A 
RECORD 
\ \ \ 
OF 
THE METROPOLITAN FAIR 
IN AID OF THE 
Onttet) Commission, 
HELD AT NEW YORK, 
IN APRIL 1864. 
WITH PHOTOGRAPHS. 
NEW YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON. 
1867. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18fi7, by 
Thk United States Sanitary Commission, 
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York 
Utbcrs'tlfr }3rrss: 
MINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMB ANY, 
CAMBRIDGE. TO THE 
BENEFICENT LADIES OF NEW YORK 
THIS ACCOUNT 
OF THEIR GREAT CHARITY 
IS INSCRIBED. PREFATORY NOTE. 
Some apology is due to the public for the lateness 
of day at which this account of the Metropolitan Fair 
is printed. Those who most properly should have 
written its story were prevented by other more press- 
ing duties. Finally, after nearly two years had elapsed, 
and after various unsuccessful attempts, the material, 
such as it was, was placed in the hands of the present 
writers, on whom the task had unexpectedly devolved. 
At a distance so far removed from the actual occur- 
rence, the particulars of many things which had not 
been reduced to writing had passed from memory, 
many papers had been mislaid or lost, and the work 
was one of extreme difficulty. The writers, therefore, 
hope that they may be pardoned for many errors and 
slips of detail, in the hope that they have given a toler- 
ably faithful picture of the general features of the Fair. 
They owe many thanks to the many persons wrho have 
assisted them in their work by conversation, by letters, 
and by papers. 
J. S. F. 
E. S. 
New Yokk, February 13, 1867. PHOTOGRAPHS. 
To face, page 
No. 1. View in Arms and Trophies Room, 34 
(J. Gurney and Son, Photographers.) 
No. 2. View in the Wigwam, 50 
(J. Gurney and Son, Photographers.) 
No. 3. View in Curiosity Shop, 74 
(J. Gurney and Son, Photographers.) 
No. 4. View in Art Gallery, 98 
(J. Gurney and Son, Photographers.) 
No. 5. Irving Cockloft, 122 
(J. Gurney & Son, Photographers.) 
No. 6. View in Main Hall, 14th Street Building, .... 156 
(J. Gurney & Son, Photographers.) 
No. 7. Hartford Booth, 178 
(M. Stadtfeld, Photographer.) 
No. 8. Costumes of Ladies in Knickerbocker Kitchen, . . 184 
(M. Stadtfeld, Photographer.) THE RECORD 
OF 
Ct)e itflcttopolttan jfatr. THE 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
In the Autumn of 1863 it came to be felt that no 
more effectual way of raising money for the needs of 
the Sanitary Commission could be devised than by 
holding Fairs. Chicago by this means was enabled to 
give sixty thousand dollars at once to the beneficent 
fund which previously had been supplied by small con- 
tributions. Not that the aggregate of contributions was 
small; the streams of benevolence that flowed into the 
common reservoir of the Sanitary Commission were 
countless and never dry, but they were mere rills when 
compared with this Chicago flood of bounty. So it was 
not long before Boston, a city which readily catches a 
new idea, followed with another bazaar, arid from it 
realized one hundred and forty thousand dollars. The 
success of the new idea, one grand gift in place of 
numberless small ones, was now, of course, fully estab- 
lished. The name “ Sanitary Fair ” was coined, and 
applied to each of that splendid series of bazaars, whose 
number and magnificence made a memorable feature 
of the winter of 1863-4 in the loyal North. 
In New York the project was early broached of 
holding a fair that should be worthy of the position of 
the Metropolitan city. The following extract from a 
paper by the President of the Sanitary Commission, 
dated November 18, 1863, shows the high ideal that 2 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
animated generous minds, and that, before a single step 
had been taken, insured the success of the future en- 
terprise. To be Metropolitan, the Fair “must be, 1. On a 
National scale — its magnitude and results worthy of the 
occasion, the place, and the necessity. 
“2. It must, to that end, be universal; enlisting all 
sympathies from the highest to the lowest, — democratic, 
without being vulgar; elegant, without being exclusive; 
fashionable, without being frivolous; popular, without 
being mediocre. In short, it must be inspired from the 
higher classes, but animate, include, and win the sym- 
pathies and interest of all classes. 
“ To accomplish this, it must be diversified, various, 
many-sided; with something for everybody to do, some- 
thing for everybody to buy ; something to gratify the 
sober and please the gay, to meet the views and ap- 
probation of the serious and utilitarian, while catching 
the eyes, the tastes, and the proclivities of the young, 
the light-hearted, the thoughtless, and the frivolous. It 
must have the support of our good people, our rich 
people, our fashionable people, our politicians, our civic 
fathers, our clergy, Chamber of Commerce, police, fire 
department, trades-unions, and all the great industrial 
establishments.” 
This was part of a paper called by its author “ Bough 
Hints ” concerning the proposed Fair. Generous and 
genial in every point, these first suggestions were ac- 
cepted to their full extent. A meeting of ladies was 
held at the Union League Club House, on the morning 
of November 21, to which fifty or sixty Ladies came 
through a pouring rain. They were addressed by the 
President of the Sanitary Commission, Dr. Bellows, who 
recounted the beneficent labors of Chicago ladies in 
their bazaar, and urged upon his audience to begin a 
similar work in New York, upon the noble scale indica- 
ted in the words above quoted. Fortunately those to 3 
UNITED STATES SANITARV COMMISSION. 
whom he spoke were already inspired with patriotic 
zeal, and needed no other incentive to action than was 
afforded by their own kind hearts and quick brains. 
They adopted the speaker’s suggestions in all their 
liberality, and then and there set to work toward car- 
rying them out. A committee of five ladies was ap- 
pointed with power “ to select twenty-five ladies from 
New York and Brooklyn, who should constitute an Ex- 
ecutive Board, and should organize and appoint all 
other committees necessary to carry on the great work 
thus commenced.” Not long afterward, the ladies of 
Brooklyn determined to have a fair of their own, and 
accordingly their representatives withdrew from this New 
York Committee, but not until they had exhibited the 
energy which afterward insured success in their own 
peculiar field. Then the gentlemen were enlisted in 
the work. On the evening of the 11th of December, a 
number of gentlemen met in the small chapel of the 
New York University to organize in aid of the proposed 
Metropolitan Fair} (It will be noticed that the ladies had 
already fixed on the name to be given to the enterprise. 
They also determined that the various committees, etc., 
should act under the name of the Metropolitan Fair 
Association.) From this time the work went on vigor- 
ously. At first, the 22d of February was appointed for 
the opening day, but it was soon changed to the 28th 
of March, — and even then the time was found too short 
for the work that was to be done. There were com- 
mittees and sub-committees to be appointed, appeals to 
1 The help given by the gentlemen did not make the Fair any less a ladies’ 
fair. In the Constitution adopted at the outset by the Ladies’ Executive Com- 
mittee, the first article is as follows : — 
“ The ‘ Metropolitan Fair ’ shall be governed by an Executive Board, consist- 
ing of twenty-five ladies. These ladies will act in connection with an Advisory 
Committee of twenty-five gentlemen, appointed by the Sanitary Committee.” 
Observe the use of “shall” and “will” in this rule. The italics are our 
own. 4 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
be made, letters to be written, a site to be chosen, assist- 
ants to be engaged, no end of running to and fro, visit- 
ings and consultations, estimates to be made and revised, 
carpenters, builders, and decorators to be seen and over- 
seen, places and labors to be distributed, clashing inter- 
ests to be reconciled, schemes that would not work to be 
altered, obstacles to be surmounted, discouragements to 
be forgotten, energy, tact, patience, and strength to be 
tried to the utmost, and often in a dozen different ways 
at once. No wonder that a second postponement was 
finally found necessary, though it is wonderful that order 
was reduced out of the chaos, even by the fourth of April. 
By the way, that last wreek’s delay was happy in more 
than one respect. The rains fell and the winds blew 
during nearly the whole seven days; it was very bad 
weather for fair-going, though' as good weather as could 
be wished for purposes of arrangement and decoration 
within doors. 
But to return to the beginning. A prospectus was 
issued, embodying the “Rough Hints” spoken of already, 
and exhibiting the scope and plan of the Fair. The 
following extract shows what was the ideal to be real- 
ized. “Such a universal end as this,” (the absorbing 
of all classes, characters, and interests in the proposed 
work,) “ can only be reached by a fair which, forsaking 
the modern notion, returns to the original one, which 
was a temporary market for merchandise and produce 
of all kinds, at which commercial ends were reached 
through vast gatherings of people, and consequent social 
festivity. We cannot, and need not go back into the 
Middle Ages, in the fairs of which there was much that 
we have neither the means nor the desire of imitating. 
But we can have, for a fortnight, a great market at which 
shall be exposed for sale every kind of product which 
our soil or our factories afford, every kind of goods 
which our merchants import, and which shall be made UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
5 
the occasion of an unusual display in all the departments 
of art,—the whole being animated and hallowed by the 
same humane and patriotic purpose. Nothing will be 
declined, however substantial or however perishable, how- 
ever grand or however trivial. All in the great city, and 
all within the wide-spreading circle of its influence, are 
to be afforded an opportunity of contributing in kind, 
through this Fair, to the glory and honor of their coun- 
try, and the health and comfort of their fellow-citizens 
who are suffering the privations of the camp, and ex- 
posed to the dangers of the battle-field.” 
After still further unfolding the purpose of the 
managers, the Fair is commended to all merchants, man- 
ufacturers and artisans, to all farmers, all painters and 
sculptors, picture-dealers and owners, all publishers, book- 
sellers, musicians and traders in musical wares, theatrical 
managers, public schools, and institutions, the fire depart- 
ment and police, literary and professional men, biblio- 
philes, virtuosi, dilettanti, to all people of every calling, 
all of whom are invited to help in the work of charity. 
Thus it was aimed to prevent this enterprise from falling 
into the hands of any circle or class of people, and to 
make it an affair of the people, an index of the patriotism 
of the whole city of New York. If any one is in doubt 
as to the manner in which this purpose was carried out, 
a very slight examination of the record of accomplish- 
ment as given in these pages, will show a fullness of 
realization rarely attained. 
Contributions to the Fair, according to the prospectus, 
were to be sent to the Receiving Depot, No. 2 Great 
Jones Street. They were to be marked with the name of 
the contributor and with a memorandum of their value. 
The appeal was closed with the following regulations, 
some of which, viewed in the light of after events, may 
prove entertaining if not instructive. 
“1. Every application by note fo** contributions shall be 6 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
upon paper bearing the symbol of the Fair, and signed in 
writing by a member of the Executive Committee; and 
every member of a Special Committee shall be provided 
with a similar certificate of authority. 
“ 2. It is earnestly requested that all contributions in 
money be sent to the Treasurer, to whose order all checks 
should be made payable. 
“ 3. At the Fair every article shall be sold at its cur- 
rent market value, when that is determinable. 
“ 4. In all raffles the number of tickets sold shall not 
exceed the original valuation of the articles raffled for. 
“ 5. No person shall be importuned to buy articles or 
tickets for raffles. 
“ 6. In every department a cashier shall be appointed 
to receive money and make change. 
“ 7. No punch shall be sold.” 
Of course, one of the first things to be settled was a 
site for the Fair. One of the first propositions had been 
to hire the Academy of Music and Irving Hall, but the 
belief in the magnitude of their project was, even at the 
beginning, sufficient to induce the committees to seek 
more room than these buildings could afford. There was 
talk too, of using the building then unfinished, bounded 
by Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and Thirty Fifth and Thirty 
Sixth Streets, in conjunction with the State Arsenal, Sev- 
enth Avenue and Thirty Fifth Street, some vacant lots 
in Thirty Fourth Street, and the house at the corner of 
Fifth Avenue and Thirty Fourth Street, last used by the 
Spingler Institute. A hundred reasons might combine 
against a plan so diffused. At all events, it was not long 
before the offer of the use of the Twenty Second Regi- 
ment Armory was accepted. There were grounds adjoin- 
ing, once occupied as the Palace Garden; free use of 
these was granted, and the city agreed to erect upon 
them buildings, which might, after the Fair should have 
passed away, be used for drilling purposes by the Regi- 7 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
ment. The Armory was a brick building about two hun- 
dred feet long, and with the additions built by the city 
made a parallelogram of that length with nearly an equal 
breadth. Afterward, when the real needs of the Fair came 
to be better understood, other buildings were put up, of 
which we shall have occasion to speak in another place. 
Before this site had been selected, committees had been 
appointed to collect contributions from, and represent, 
nearly every trade and interest in the city. All the call- 
ings represented in the prospectus were invited, not only 
through circulars and advertisements, but by letter and 
personal application, to take part in the great bazaar. 
At first there was in some quarters a slowness to respond 
to these appeals, — business men did not at once com- 
prehend what manner of work was going on among 
them. They could not see such a future as the ladies 
were promising themselves. They had been used to fairs, 
and had learned to regard them with easy contempt, as 
places where young ladies forgot their reserve and became 
importunate, and where the other features were punch, 
worsted-work, and a post-office. They perhaps feared that 
the present enterprise was an attempt to raise an endur- 
able bore into a grand and intolerable nuisance. How- 
ever that may have been, there was no standing out long 
against such enthusiasm as was in the Ladies’ Committee. 
That leaven of spirit spread and strengthened until it 
pervaded every class to which appeal had been made, 
and reached abroad over the land and beyond the seas, 
wherever loyal Americans were to be found. 
It may have been forgotten by many what foundation 
there was for these last words. But they will seem cool 
and reserved enough when one recollects how large a part 
of the world was really represented at the Metropolitan 
Fair. There was a sort of contagion of kindness spread- 
ing from the eastern shores of the Baltic and the Med- 
iterranean to the Bav of San Francisco. It affected, for 8 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
the most part, Americans wherever they were, and some 
generous hearts to whom all nations are. kin, and no 
noble feeling foreign. To such this Fair afforded their 
readiest means for expressing the sympathy they felt in 
the cause of the North. It was not merely charity to 
wounded soldiers, it was an offering to freedom; it was 
the “ God-speed ” which their governments would not ut- 
ter, and for which they themselves had previously lacked 
an opportunity. The gifts of these friends, foreigners only 
in name, added one crowning grace to the Fair, making 
it an expression of the world-wideness of humanity in 
its best sense, caring not only for the sick and maimed 
but for the down-trodden of the earth. 
That we have not overstated the interest felt in the 
New York Fair, our narrative as it advances will show. 
While the labors of committees at home were waxing 
greater, meetings were being held in Berlin and Genoa, 
in Frankfort and Florence, at some of which the ladies 
passed friendly resolutions, while all of them ended in 
more tangible expressions of sympathy. Societies trib- 
utary to the Sanitary Commission had been formed in 
London and Paris, and we shall have hereafter to no- 
tice the gifts that were sent from those cities, from 
St. Petersburg and Smyrna, from Copenhagen and Ge- 
neva, from Hamburg and Lisbon, and from Rio Janeiro. 
We shall find Newcastle of her superfluity sending a 
vessel loaded with coals, — Rome filling a department 
with mosaics and photographs, engravings and paintings, 
— queens and Italian patriots sending their autographs, 
— authors and artists in England, Germany, France, and 
Italy, writing and painting for this one object. Such was 
the interest which the zealous ladies in New York suc- 
ceeded in awakening in loyal hearts abroad. In America 
the interest was even more general, though so many 
places were straining every nerve to make their own fairs 
figure as largely as possible in the list of that season, that UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
9 
they had little beside their friendly interest to contribute 
to the New York charity. Still it was a matter of gener- 
ous pride and solicitude that the great city’s success 
should be worthy of her rank. The kindly zeal reached 
people in distant farm-houses and villages, too drowsy to 
be roused to much action by the benevolent mania, and 
their contributions, naturally enough, came to New York. 
In this way every State in the Union, even to California, 
came to be represented in the Fair by something curious 
or precious. 
But in New York City there were no side channels to 
divert the stream of charity from the one course. At first 
the movement was small and slow. But it was the story 
over again of the tiny outlet made by some idlers for a 
mountain lake; the little channel gradually widened until 
the rill became a brook, and the brook turned into a fear- 
ful torrent that swept along rocks and woods in its course, 
and overwhelmed the villages in the plain below. At first 
the work crept along without notice from the outside 
world. In January the papers began to talk about the 
coming Fair. From time to time a paragraph among 
the news items stimulated interest, and their growing 
frequency may be taken as an index of the growing 
popularity of their subject. Finally it seemed as if the 
whole city were engaged in one pursuit. Everybody wTas 
doing something for the Sanitary Fair; if nothing more, 
they at least advanced its interests by talking about it. 
When once it had attained this dangerous height of 
favor, it held its position as the leading, the absorbing 
interest of the day, until its doors were finally closed, 
and our charity was only known by its fruits. 
Of course this success was attained only by great labor. 
We fear that we cannot adequately show how great and 
unceasing were the pains taken that the work should not 
discredit the ideal which wras at its foundation. For ex- 
ample, there was the matter of correspondence. In order 10 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
that American residents abroad might be engaged, letters 
were written to every American Minister and every Con- 
sulate of any importance in Europe, and almost every 
single appeal of this kind entailed more or less of corre- 
spondence. Then in collecting materials for the Curiosity 
Shop, or for the Floral Temple, what epistolary efforts 
were involved, let those tell who can. To get together 
the Arms and Trophies Museum, demanded more than a 
thousand letters, and yet this was only the beginning of 
labors. Besides the collection of materials, there was also 
the taking care and keeping account of them, which was 
no trifling matter. For in a given department, beside the 
outright gifts, there would be found at once goods loaned 
for exhibition, goods to be sold on commission, goods, the 
proceeds of which were to be divided between two or 
three objects, goods subject to all manner of conditions. 
Then there was the work of selection, arrangement, and 
decoration, the whole getting up of the place of sale or 
exhibition. Often there was as much difficulty in procur- 
ing a suitable place or space for a department, as in fitting 
up after it was gained, for, as we have before said, the 
needs of the Fair were fast outgrowing the provision for 
them, and there was a great deal of crowding and strug- 
gling before the demand for more room was granted. 
Over and above all these things were the countless and 
unceasing calls for attention from details, — calls in them- 
selves trifling, but in their aggregate haunting, harassing, 
and often overpowering. Only those who have engaged 
in such a work know the weight of the little duties. 
Of course head-quarters were necessary for the various 
committees, as well as for the storage of gifts. These were 
found in the house then standing at the corner of Great 
Jones Street and Broadway. This house was put, by its 
owner, at the service of the Executive Board, and was the 
scene of the various labors we have indicated as pertain- 
ing to the Fair. Were we a people who stopped to mark UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
11 
our memorable places, this spot must come in for honor. 
It was the starting-point for a crusade against sickness 
and suffering and death, — a crusade of the gentle kind 
which is the glory of this time. Other days than ours 
have seen men fighting for principles, but their zeal has 
been very seldom accompanied by humanity. And as it 
is perhaps this very element that will finally distinguish 
our great conflict from those that have gone before it, we 
may live to see the song-writer and the architect celebrat- 
ing these gentle victories of kindness along with the 
sterner victories of right. Then such places as were 
graced by our charity will deserve their tribute of re- 
membrance. 
We have stopped to mention this one scene thus partic- 
ularly, because it has passed away. No. 2 Great Jones 
Street was one of two solid, old-fashioned, granite houses, 
that have since given place to the more thrifty splendors 
of red brick and white paint. They were built when the 
glories of Bond and Great Jones streets were as yet un- 
tarnished, and had kept their dignity until the time was 
come when they must either be torn down, or must harbor 
the modiste or the tailor. Perhaps it was well that the 
former lot was theirs. No. 2, at least, ended its existence 
with becoming state — its last uses were thoroughly noble. 
We have said that the plan of the Fair grew' upon its 
projectors until it refused to be bounded by the limits 
assigned. The demands for room became more and more 
urgent, until the Building Committee was forced to yield 
before them. The original square of two hundred feet 
was added to as follows: in front of the Armory a tempo- 
rary structure was extended out over the sidewalk. This 
was done by permission of the City Government, and was 
for the accommodation of the Indian Department, and the 
Arms and Trophies Museum. The street front of the Fair 
was extended about one hundred feet, by inclusion of a 
building occupied by a livery-stable, and by a building 12 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
covering three vacant lots, and destined for the Fair Bes- 
taurant. A Machinery Department was put up on Fif- 
teenth Street, which left room only for the passage of a 
single carriage between it and the north sidewalk. There 
was also added on Fifteenth Street a house, a shop, and 
three lots, which were variously filled. 
Still there was a cry for more space; but this time 
the Building Committee did not yield. The temporary 
buildings in Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets had al- 
ready cost over sixty thousand dollars, and the Com- 
mittee, with a future all unknown before it, did not 
think that a further expenditure in this way would be 
justifiable. So some ladies, and more especially one, 
who had at heart the interests of children, and their 
right to a part in the Fair, determined to go ahead, 
and themselves supply the needed accommodation. The 
Sanitary Commission, sympathizing with these ladies, 
agreed to be responsible for the additional buildings, 
and on the same day the lady, whom we have instanced 
as especially forward in this work, had gained permis- 
sion from the city authorities to use a part of Union 
Square for her purposes, and was in consultation with 
an architect, and with the movers for new departments. 
The Union Square building rose very swiftly, and af- 
forded space for four of the most important divisions 
of the Fair, — the International and Children’s Depart- 
ments, the Knickerbocker Kitchen, and the Music Hall. 
If, in Fourteenth Street, the Fair seemed the result of 
rare energy, purpose, and generosity, in Union Square 
it seemed an inspiration. The wonderful zeal of her 
who secured the existence of this portion animated all 
who were concerned in carrying out her plan. An 
accomplished architect not only submitted drawings, 
which were at once approved, but gave up all his 
time until the buildings were finished; and then, in 
another way, during the three weeks of the Fair, another UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
13 
architect arranged the Knickerbocker Kitchen, a third 
gave time, taste, and money in the decorations of the 
other departments. The masons and carpenters per- 
formed their work at half the usual rates; the roofers, 
plumbers, and gas-fitters also made generous terms. 
Moreover, all was well and quickly done. Begun at 
noon on the 14th day of March, the structure was 
finished on Saturday evening, the 2d of April, just six- 
teen and a half working days from the time that the 
first stone was laid. This, too, despite, a week of 
almost incessant rain, the same that was so profitable 
to the decorators and arrangers in Fourteenth Street,— 
the “ ill wind,” that divided its effects with the usual 
impartiality. Moreover, the Union Square buildings, 
unlike those in Fourteenth Street, were not an aggre- 
gate of smaller buildings, put together as the needs 
arose, but a symmetrical whole, the fruit of a well- 
digested plan. As a consequence, though so much more 
modest in dimensions, and in the number of attractions 
offered, the Union Square division was able to hold its 
own, and share the admiration with its older and larger 
sister. It consisted of two main buildings, one on 
Broadway, one on Fourth Avenue, each sixty by ninety 
feet, and united by a narrower structure, one hundred 
and sixty-five feet long by fifty-five feet wide. The 
whole cost about seventeen thousand dollars. 
The history of this addition to the original plan 
induces us to mention one thing, which, above all 
others, made our charity preeminently the ladies’, rather 
than the gentlemen’s Fair. Men took deep interest 
in the work, and aided it by every effort, but it was 
the faith of woman which made it what it was,— 
the noblest gift of humanity, love, and devotion, that the 
sufferers in our war received. The men of New York, 
with few exceptions, doubted the success of the enter- 
prise, — at least doubted its having any such success 14 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIK. 
as the ladies hoped for. To use the language of the 
time, business men thought that the Fair would do the 
best possible if it should realize a hundred thousand 
dollars. So they would naturally, if the matter had 
been in their hands, have limited the scope of the un- 
dertaking; and as it was, the tendency of their coun- 
sels was generally toward economy, toward lowering 
enthusiasm, and cutting down the plans of the ladies. 
But they could not change the belief of woman in the 
support which their largest benevolence would receive 
from a loyal city, and from the friends of the city 
everywhere. So the ladies had sometimes to carry 
out their faith over the head of unbelief' as in the case 
of the Union Square department; and, so far as we 
know, the result invariably justified their larger action. 
Not that the ladies were not indebted to the men for 
cooperation, for help in a hundred ways where their 
own strength would have been insufficient. We would 
merely say, that without the belief of the ladies in the 
possibilities of their effort, the Metropolitan Fair would 
have been a much smaller and much less successful 
enterprise. Perhaps it would be most nearly just to 
say that it was the union of woman’s faith with man’s 
experience, and the energy and constancy of both, that 
insured the fortunate result. 
There were some things, such as the debates upon 
the question of raffling, which belonged, in fact, to the 
history of the Fair previous to its opening, and which 
we have included in the main part of our narrative. 
We have now sufficiently indicated of what kind, and 
how great were the labors that led up to the ceremonies 
of the first day, — Monday, the fourth of April, 1864. 
We have mentioned no names, for the list of the de- 
serving is too large for us to give even the most promi- 
nent, without doing injustice to some. We have, there- 
fore, put a list of officers and committees in an appen- UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
15 
dix. Those who were concerned in the progress of 
the Fair will know to whom credit is largely due, and 
will not fail to render a tribute of reverence to their 
self-denying labor. For ourselves, we know that to the 
real, though unnamed, heroes and heroines of this book, 
the consciousness of their own deeds is their own suffi- 
cient reward, and they will appreciate the respect which 
makes us silent as to their share in the work. 
It only remains, then, for us to emulate the example 
of weightier and older historians, and give a view of the 
state of the world at the time of the opening of our story. 
We shall, perhaps, shed some light upon our subject, 
which is a better excuse for our course than the plea of 
the practice of others. 
Look back over the daily papers about the end of 
March, 1864. Schleswig Holstein is a bone of con- 
tention in Europe, and nobody knows which is the right 
side of the difficulty. England is in a querulous and 
puzzled state of mind. Between questions of neutrality 
toward Denmark and America, the government is fid- 
getty, and, more cautious than usual of giving offense, it 
contents itself with giving plenty of virtuous, motherly 
advice. The Archduke Maximilian, with the Arch- 
duchess, en route for Mexico, are in London, whence 
they will depart cheered and strengthened to encounter 
the uncertain bliss of imperial dignity. The small lit- 
erary men of England are squabbling to keep out all 
who are greater than themselves from any share in the 
management of the Shakspeare Tercentenary. This last 
is not pleasant, it is, indeed, scarcely creditable to the 
literary men; but we are gratified by contemplating 
anew the course of the Ministry, which sets a beautiful 
example of peace-keeping to these uneasy spirits. At 
home we find a contrast to this picture of virtuous re- 
pose. The war has entered upon its fourth year, but 
General Grant has been appointed commander-in-chief, 16 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
and the nation begins to hope that the end is not far 
off. Still, the Alabama and Florida roam the sea un- 
harmed, and on land, though the Potomac army has 
not yet learned the art of moving so early in the spring, 
skirmishes in the Southwest enliven the military out- 
look. In New York the effects of the Avar are 
various and interesting, but they are often hard to 
discover among the striking evidences of prosperity, 
just as they may prove hard to find among the fol- 
lowing items. It is pleasant spring weather, and the 
city is very full, — hotels and boarding-houses are over- 
crowded. The opera, after tAVO weeks of silence, opens 
Avith Faust, and promise of a revival of Robert le Diable. 
Gold is at $1.70; it has not as yet reached its highest, 
but speculation is busy, perhaps even anxious. Mingled 
Avith such items are a daily increasing number relating 
to the coming Sanitary Fair. It is evident that the 
Fair is the event of the time. In one paper is an ac- 
count of a proposed Cockloft Hall, filled Avith soirvenirs 
of the authors of Salmagundi. In another, a notice of 
several books published for the benefit of the Fair, and 
a suggestion that, as the hotels are over-croAvded, loyal 
people should let out their spare rooms to strangers, 
and hand over the proceeds to the same cause. (!) 
Again, it is said that a number of beautiful gifts from 
Hamburg have arrived by the Germania, Avhich suggests 
the comforting reflection that Hamburg is not all en- 
grossed by the war in Holstein. Then, the proprietors 
of the different omnibus lines are considering Avhat they, 
as a body, shall contribute. The Police Department 
have already given handsomely, and the Fire Depart- 
ment is furnishing a division in the Fourteenth Street 
buildings which promises to be one of the most attracti\Te 
features of the Fair. On Saturday evening a concert 
Avill be given by the Philharmonic Society in aid of the 
favorite charity. The theatres all promise benefits to UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
17 
the same object. The Hippotheatron even proposes to 
devote to the Commission a percentage of all its earn- 
ings during the continuance of the Fair. Barnum will 
give a week’s proceeds. The children of the Public 
Schools, not to be behindhand, will “follow suit” with 
a whole series of concerts. Then there are advertise- 
ments from various committees to dealers in musical 
instruments, in shoes and leather, in canes and umbrellas, 
in cotton, wool, and raw materials, to manufacturers 
and machinists, to people out of town, inviting all to 
send their contributions to the 22d Regiment Armory 
buildings, Fourteenth Street, near Sixth Avenue. The 
Fair was to have opened on the 28th of March, but 
there is so much to be arranged that, hurry as they 
will, the managers are obliged to postpone the opening 
for one week, until the 4th of April. We find a little 
later that even this delay might have been lengthened, 
for there remained a good deal to be done after the 
opening. Contributions from Europe were yet on their 
way, and the buildings in Union Square were not yet 
completed. Still, when Monday, the fourth of April, 
came, there was no sufficient reason for waiting any 
longer. That is, there was no delay in fact; but in our 
history we must stop, before chronicling the pomps and 
festivities of the commencement day, in order to give a 
brief account of the scene of the Fair. This will be of 
service to us hereafter. 
It would, perhaps, have been more correct had we 
written the scenes of the Fair; it would have been at 
least more literal, for our charity opened its doors both 
in Union Square and in Fourteenth Street. It rejoiced 
in space and a double presence — it overwhelmed you 
with vastness and profusion in Fourteenth Street, in 
Union Square it charmed you with a few selected at- 
tractions. The Fourteenth Street building consisted of 
the brick Armory buildings near Sixth Avenue, with 18 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
wooden structures added thereto, affording a front of 
more than two hundred feet, and not only extending 
through from Fourteenth to Fifteenth streets, but in- 
cluding the north sidewalk on the lower street, and on 
the upper leaving room for the passage of only a single 
carriage. The building in Union Square, though divided 
into but four departments, was two hundred and eighty- 
five feet long, and consisted of two main buildings, each 
sixty by ninety feet, connected by a narrower one of 
one hundred and sixty-five feet in length and fifty-five 
feet wide. If the recital of these dimensions is found 
uninteresting by anybody, by you, for example, fair or 
unfair reader, who seeks to brighten your memory over 
these pages, we beg you to skip the catalogue of depart- 
ments, which we here copy from that pleasant little 
chronicler, “The Spirit of the Fair.” We shall resume 
our narrative at page 21. 
The main entrance is on Fourteenth Street, through the 
temporary building erected in front of the Armory of the 
22d New York State National Guards. 
On the right of the main entrance is the Indian De- 
partment; on the left is the Department of Arms and 
Trophies. 
On entering the main building by the central door, the 
following is the order of departments and tables:— 
SOUTH SIDE. RIGHT OF MAIN ENTRANCE. 
Jacob’s Well. 
Room No. 3. — Hardware and Furnishing Goods. 
Room No. 2. — Treasurer’s Department. 
Stall. — Children’s Clothing. 
Room No. 1. — Lingeries and Trimmings. 
SAME SIDE, LEFT OF MAIN ENTRANCE. 
Stall for the sale of the “ Spirit of the Fair ” news- 
paper. booth\s~ 
J \ 
FOUNTAIN 
INTERNATIONAL 
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ENTRANCE 
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UNION 
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THE UNION SQUARE BUILDING. 
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LADIES 
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FIRST FLOOR OF THE MAIN BUILDING (FOURTEENTH STREET). 
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PLAN OF THE FAIR BUILDINGS. 
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POLICE 1 
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ENTRANCE 
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INDIAN DEPT 
FOUR TEENTH 
S TREET 19 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
Room No. 4.—Stationery. 
Room No. 5. — Sewing-Machines. 
Stall. — Soda Fountain. 
Executive Committee Room. 
WEST SIDE OF MAIN BUILDING. 
Stall. — Thread, Needles, and small wares. 
2d Stall. — Toys. 
3d Stall. — Gentlemen’s Furnishing Goods. 
4th to KM Stall. — New Jersey Department. 
Washington Irving Temple. 
NORTH SIDE. FIFTEENTH STREET. 
(Beginning at west end.) 
1st entrance to Machinery and Shipbuilders’ Depart- 
ment. 
Stall. — Boots and Shoes. 
Stall. — Harness, Bridles, and Leather Goods. 
2d entrance to Machinery Department. 
Stall. — Dry Goods. 
Stall. — India-Rubber Goods. 
3d entrance to Machinery Department. 
Clothes-wringing machine. 
EAST WALL. 
(Beginning at north end.) 
New York Fire Department, extending half the length 
of the wall. 
Stall. — Roman Department. 
Entrance to Carriage and Agricultural Department, and 
Mathematical Instruments. 
Stall. — Jewelry and Fancy Goods. 
Entrance to Wholesale Departments of Tobacco and 
Liquors, Drugs and Perfumeries, Soaps and Candles, and 
Groceries. These conduct to the Restaurant, from which 
two bights of stairs lead to the Dining Saloon. 20 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
The centre of the main building is occupied by the 
Floral Temple and Flower Department. 
LIST OF TABLES ON MAIN FLOOR. 
No. 1. — German Turnverein. 
2. — Furs, Hats, and Caps. 
3. — Porcelain and Glass. 
4. — Lutheran Society. 
5. — Baptist Society. 
6. — Buffalo Table. 
7. — Ohio Table. 
8. — New Bedford Table. 
9. — Police. 
10. — Oswego Table. 
11. — Staten Island Table. 
12. — Dobbs’ Ferry and Hastings. 
13. — Norwalk Table. 
14. — Welsh Church. 
15. — Westchester. Forts Schuyler and Hamilton. 
16. — Harlem Table. 
17. — Methodist Table. 
18. — Wholesale Jewelers. 
19. — Rev. Mr. Gantz’s Church. 
20. — Retail Perfumery and Wax Flowers. 
21. — Miscellaneous. 
22. — Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed. 
23. — Children’s Clothing. 
24. — Fancy Goods. 
The Picture Gallery extends along the west end of the 
main building. The entrance is from Fourteenth Street, 
the most westerly door. At one end is the Gallery of 
Photographs and Engravings. 
The second story, main building, is reached by the stair- 
case near the Picture Gallery, and is divided into the fol- 
lowing Departments: — 
Room No. 11. — Ladies’ Executive Committee Room. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION 
21 
Room No. 10. — Architectural Ornaments, Stained Glass, 
and Tapestries. 
Room No. 9. — Library and Bookstore. 
Rooms No. 7 and 8. — Old Curiosity Shop. 
Room No. 6. — Dress-making. 
Rooms beyond. — Furniture and Upholstery Depart- 
ment, Ladies’ Hair-Dressing Articles, Dress Patterns, and 
Lithographic Press. 
The floor above is occupied by the Photographic De- 
partment. 
PLAN OF THE UNION SQUARE BUILDING. 
The main entrances are on the south side of the two 
wings, adjoining the Park. 
The east wing is occupied by the Children’s Department. 
The central division consists of the Musical Instrument 
Department, and the Knickerbocker Kitchen. 
The west wing contains the International Department, 
containing contributions from various quarters of the 
world. In the centre of this building is a fountain. 
The Cattle Show connected with the Fair is situated in 
Fifteenth Street, near Seventh Avenue. Among the con- 
tributions of stock will be found a White Ox, from Liv- 
ingston County, weighing 3602 pounds, an Alderney Cow, 
a Durham Bull, Sheep, Shetland Ponies, and Horses. 
There — that is as faithful an account of the arrange- 
ment of the Fair as words can give. There are a great 
many people who cannot gain any notion of the interior 
of a house from an architect’s diagram, and yet no simpler 
or more exact way of exhibiting construction has ever 
been devised. This that we have transcribed from the 
“ Spirit of the Fair,” is an architect’s plan in words, and 
we can imagine no shorter or more complete description; 
and we hope that all those who may examine it will find 
their memories refreshed, and so agree with us. 22 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
As for the picturesque view, that we shall attempt to 
give with the opening of the Fair, and during the subse- 
quent visits which we shall make. This little history is 
written from the stand-point of one of the myriads of cas- 
ual visitors to the great Bazaar. So, like any one of the 
interested public, we shall tell how the stalls and how the 
ladies looked, and our impressions of the coup d'ceil, when 
we may be supposed to have seen them—that is, after we 
have been admitted on opening night, along with the rest 
of the world. What has been already told of the interior 
arrangements of the buildings might as well have been 
gathered by anybody from the columns of the “New 
York Herald,” which published as much, and a great deal 
more, on the morning of the opening day, so that when 
the first song was swelling out under that timbered roof, 
people three hundred miles away were better informed 
than many were who heard the music, what was going on 
there, and what were the surroundings of that brilliant 
throng. 
And now came the day of opening. Mayor Gunther, 
to the great delight of clerks and school-children, had 
issued a proclamation1 recommending that the day be 
kept as a holiday. Major-General Dix, in command of 
the Department of the East, had made arrangements for 
“ I deem it a duty to call the attention of my fellow-citizens to the fact, that 
during the continuance of the unhappy strife in which our once peaceful States 
are involved, there has arisen a host of good Samaritans, whose sole business is 
“ to allay the pain and draw out the irritation ” of the unfortunate participants 
therein. 
“ The Sanitary Fairs throughout the country are to culminate in the gigantic 
enterprise of the benevolent ladies of this metropolis, which is to be inaugurated 
on Monday next, with appropriate military and civic ceremonies. In view of 
the importance of the occasion, and the praiseworthy associations connected 
with this labor of love, I recommend to my fellow-citizens to observe the 4th 
day of April as a holiday, and that all business, except works of charity and 
necessity, be suspended. 
“ C. Godfrey Gunther, Mayor. 
“New York, April 2, 1864.” 
i “ PROCLAMATION. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
23 
a military display. There were to be the regular troops, 
from the various forts about the city, under command 
of General Stannard, and the militia under General Sand- 
ford. These were to take up their line of march at two 
o’clock from Fourteenth Street, passing down Second 
Avenue, through Stuyvesant Place and Astor Place, to 
Broadway. They were to proceed to the City Hall, to 
be reviewed by His Excellency the Mayor. After that 
they were to be at liberty to return to their several 
places of starting. Hard work for the troops, but pleas- 
ant enough for the populace which flocks untiringly 
to parades, and contentedly hangs over the curbstone, 
squeezed and red in the face, so long as it can see its 
beloved blue-coats pass by, or catch the retreating notes 
of a band. In the evening, at eight o’clock, the Fair was 
to be opened with music, and, of course, speeches. For 
the greater comfort of all concerned, two dollars were 
fixed as the price of admission to this ceremony, and the 
number of tickets limited to six thousand. 
So much for the promise of the day. The public had 
been made fully acquainted with it through numerous 
advertisements and the friendly gossiping newspaper re- 
porters. So lively was the interest of people that the 
“ Herald ” was constrained to publish the orders of vari- 
ous colonels to their regiments, one advising his men to 
appear in white gloves without overcoats, another calling 
not only for white gloves but for overcoats also, while a 
third contented himself with allowing overcoats in case 
the weather demanded them. It was evident that 
public curiosity in some quarters had become too greedy 
to be nice, and so it was well that the day was near when 
curiosity should be allayed by sight. 
Monday was a bright and lovely day. We mean, of 
course, Monday, the 4th of April, 1864. Broadway lay 
white and brilliant under the spring sun, the sharp sky 
line of the roofs and the crimson stripes of the countless 24 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
flags seeming to deepen the blue that hung over all. 
There were flags everywhere, from windows, suspended 
from ropes across the street, crowning roofs and church- 
spires even, and all stirred into rich and lazy folds by a 
breeze that came blowing over the bay heavy with the 
promise of budding trees and flowers. 
It is about twelve o’clock, and we who have been ob- 
serving Broadway all this while, find that the windows 
below Eighth Street are filling up with ladies, and that 
parasols are appearing here and there upon the roofs. 
We accordingly make our way towards Fourteenth Street. 
It is not yet very crowded when we reach there. People 
are standing or lounging in knots with a look of not 
knowing very well where they are going, or what they 
are about. But crowds gather in a mysterious way. We 
have been thinking that we were on the ground too 
early, and suddenly the street is full. We did not see 
that the multitude came from any particular direction, 
nor did they even seem to come all together; yet here 
they are, and every flight of door-steps is one solid in- 
clined plane of heads and parasols. The rights of house- 
holders make castles of their homes, — such is, by law, 
the inviolable nature of every domestic retreat; but the 
irrepressible people have here made each house a fortress 
not only to the outer world but to the owner himself. 
These are beleaguered strongholds, and the very prince 
can only find ingress or egress through the modern pos- 
tern gate known as the area door. The entrance to the 
Maison Doree is kept open by two policemen at the 
gate, and Delmonico’s is saved partly by a policeman, but 
mainly by reason of its affording no “coigne of vantage” 
to the sight-seeing public, — and now the curbstone is 
surmounted by a dark, close, living wall, a struggling 
elbowing wall, that will stretch out into the street, and 
though mainly a very good-natured wall, will swear here 
and there. The waiting throng is willing to be amused, UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
25 
and rough contests of wit occur between the gamins of 
neighboring branches or railings, which are received 
with great good nature by their audience. The laughter 
is not always fairly proportioned to the wit, but often 
answers with greatest warmth the slightest sallies ; in- 
deed, the mirth becomes quite uncontrollable when a 
branch breaks under its burden of boys, and it is seen 
that nobody is hurt. The populace is making the most 
in its own way of the opening of the Metropolitan Fair. 
Not one in a hundred of these people will be present 
during the speeches in the evening; a great number of 
them perhaps would not care for that ceremony, but 
they are fond of soldiers, or rather of uniforms and of 
band music. They are of that class which flocks to any 
military display no matter what it celebrates. They are 
hundreds of thousands in number, and they indicate the 
whole line of the march by one continuous, dense, dark 
mass. They are interesting to the moralist, the philan- 
thropist, the economist, and to themselves; but in these 
pages we have only to do with them as they form so 
prominent a feature of the day, — and what thoughtful 
eye disregards the spectators of any pageant? 
And all this while a melodious clashing of bands is 
heard from several directions, and companies of soldiers 
are continually marching through the lines of people, and 
taking position along the middle of Fourteenth Street. 
There is great bustle; great galloping back and forth 
of aids with important faces, and hurried consultations 
between officers; but at last, through much tribulation, 
every thing is arranged — a double line of bayonets glis- 
tens in the sun from Sixth to Second Avenue. An air of 
determination has gradually settled down upon the faces 
of the militia, composure has come upon the officers; and 
at length, at three o’clock — we regret to record that it is 
an hour later than the time set—the word of command 
is given, and the line of march is taken up. The people 26 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
shout as their favorite regiments go by, and now and 
then a cry of recognition passes from one friend on the 
sidewalk to another in the lines. So it was as with many 
other processions — blue sky above, brightened with the 
crimson and white of many flags, and beneath a dark 
mass with a long stripe of blue through it; the glisten- 
ing of bayonets; the regular tramp, tramp, falling like 
muffled hammer-strokes upon the pavement; a cry of 
multitudes far and near, mingled with the clash of ad- 
vancing and receding bands, the roll of drums and, now 
and then, the melodious thunder of a distant cannon. 
The peculiar feature of this procession, distinguishing it 
from all that had marched before, was the presence of a 
large number of regular soldiers, provoking comparison 
with the city regiments. It is a pleasant thing to record 
a verdict then rendered, that the militia or volunteers, 
favorites of the city, did not suffer by the comparison. 
Then, too, it was the largest military display ever seen 
in New York—the only great procession that had been 
made up entirely of soldiery. The daily papers, for the 
benefit of the arithmetical class of their readers, put the 
display into figures, and told us that the procession was 
two miles in length, including eight thousand men, and 
was gazed at, along its line of march, by half a million 
people. The Prince of Wales’ reception, heretofore re- 
garded as affording the most august spectacle possible 
to New York, found its glory pale before that of this 
occasion. New York last year, 1865, saw yet greater 
sights — a procession of rejoicing, a triumph for the vic- 
tory of truth and faith conducted by patience over wrong 
and blindness urged on by passion, where the spectators 
were more than a million and the parade stretched over 
seven long miles; and another, a sad array with shrouded 
banners and funeral music escorting a car with black 
plumes along streets heavily draped and through crowds 
with sober eyes and heads uncovered. There was no UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
27 
need of counting on that day; — the whole city took 
part in that sad ceremonial, walking with heads bent 
down, or gazing in reverent silence. But the procession 
in honor of the opening of the Sanitary Fair, yet may 
take rank with these two. The three are emblematical 
of three phases of our great struggle: the earlier one 
indicating the Christian purpose which carried us through 
four years of war, the latter two representing, one the 
joy of our triumph, the other our grief over our losses. 
At last the display was over, and the side streets, 
which had for awhile been almost as deserted as “ Baker 
Street, or Tadmor in the wilderness,” wore again their 
usual homelike air. The street cars had been stopped, 
until on each side of Fourteenth Street they had accu- 
mulated in lines like an endless series in some one of 
Dore’s pictures, but now these perspectives were broken 
up, and the city gradually settled back to its usual look. 
We cannot linger long over the opening. A strict 
report of its ceremonies would be little more than a 
transcription of two speeches, and much as we should 
like to give these, we should transgress our limits in so 
doing. Then, too, to get at its real charm, a speech must 
be received through the ear, rather than through the 
eye. An essay read before an audience is generally 
tedious: it was not meant to please in that way; and a 
speech, divorced from its personal magnetism of voice 
and presence and occasion, fails of much of its effect. 
It is like a symphony — a musician may read it from 
the score, but what is that to one who hears it fitly 
interpreted in the concert room ? And so it is perhaps 
as well that our space forbids our doing much more than 
allude to these addresses. Everybody who heard them 
remembers how good, how interesting and satisfactory 
they were; and we cannot, then, very much regret, so 
long as we can at least touch upon a memory so pleasant. 
Contenting ourselves, then, with a mere gossiping 28 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
chronicle of the evening, we may begin very properly 
outside of the Fair buildings. Fourteenth Street, at this 
point, was unusually light, by reason of a number of gas- 
lamps posted along in front of the entrances. It was 
fairly brilliant outside the buildings, and the opposite 
curbstone was crowned by a row of gazers, such as 
gathers about the Academy of Music on occasion of the 
Arion Ball. They stood silent, while carriage after 
carriage rolled out from the twilight into the full glare, 
and perhaps they felt something of the picturesqueness 
of such a scene; the “ tumultuous grandeur ” about the 
blazing entrances, the strong light thrown upon faces, 
dresses and buildings, the deep masses of shadow, and 
the contrasting stillness of the starlit sky, always make 
a striking picture. 
But those who are going in will not linger long at 
the door. There is a little crush at the entrance, a con- 
fusion of color, a low sweeping sound of silk breaking 
through the level hum of voices, and we are borne, ap- 
parently between two high board-fences, into the great 
hall of the Fair. Most persons, perhaps, experience very 
much the same feeling on going for the first time into 
a great bazaar, — such a multitude of objects press at 
once upon the senses that for a time nothing is seen or 
felt distinctly. One is dazed, and comes back to the 
usual state of self-possession as if waking out of sleep. 
Ladies will grasp the arm of a companion a little more 
tightly, and sometimes may be seen with heightened 
color and quick breath gazing around, in a wild, wonder- 
ing way that betrays their feeling. The same thing may 
be detected in men, by an extraordinary aptitude for 
stepping on dresses, and for being where they are not 
wanted. But we do not see all this at once; it dawns 
upon us gradually. The first impression is that this whirl 
of people, and gas-lights, flags, garlands, and lacing-tim- 
bers has no end. We seem to make no way through it, UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
29 
but, wherever we turn or go, it stretches to the same un- 
limited distance, and is just so big and bewildering. But 
order settles out of confusion, and little by little we 
learn to distinguish the parts which go to make up the 
whole. 
Let us resume now the past tense, and try to recall 
as much of the arrangement and appearance of the great 
hall as one might be supposed to gather while waiting 
for the opening ceremonies to begin. It is probably not 
far from the truth, to say that the first thing that struck 
one beginning to observe, was the real simplicity of 
means by which decoration was attained. This great 
hall was a temporary building, and its roof, with a great 
mass of timber work, was all exposed, quite unrelieved 
in its plainness, even by such adornment as a coat of 
paint might have afforded. Only two lines of these 
timbers, stretching across the middle of the hall, were 
hung with festoons of evergreen and occasional bunches 
of verdure. There were, in reality, two roofs, a section 
of which would have somewhat resembled a broad letter 
W inverted, and these were supported at their joining 
by eight solid piers of brick, masked by mirrors and 
drapery of flags. In the centre of the hall was a floral 
temple — a mass of green, brightened by flowers and 
inscriptions. Properly speaking, the hall had no other 
decorations than these, for all the other trophies, devices, 
and whatever else there was to please the eye, were only 
the deckings and belongings of the several departments. 
Perhaps we ought even to exclude the Floral Temple from 
our short list of general decorations, for it was in reality 
as much a booth as that of the Fire Department; it was 
included because it had the effect of being a part, the 
climax or crown of the greenery which pertained to no 
section, but to the hall at large. Aside from all this the 
great space was brilliant enough. From one point, high 
over the heads of the crowd about, you might have seen 30 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
the crossed keys and triple crown above the kindly 
and venerable face of Pio Nono, that could only have 
marked the Roman department. Further along was 
a renaissance front, crowned with effigies of firemen, 
with rows of signal-lanterns, piles of firemen’s hats, and 
an array of burnished trumpets. No New Yorker would 
need to be told whose generosity had been at work 
there. Moving on further, you might have discovered, 
in a distant corner, the Cockloft Summer House, already 
known through newspaper descriptions, and enticing you 
to enter by its quaint and genial motto: — 
“ In hoc est hoax, cum quis et jokeses, 
Et smokem, toastem, roastem, folkses, 
Fee, Fau, Fum,” 
and just beyond were four fronts bearing emblems of the 
four seasons; and next to these a light and brilliantly 
colored structure, pleasantly named the Alhambra, while 
in every direction one saw rising above the crowd flags 
and flowers, pictures and innumerable and bewildering 
patches of color and of light. 
So much we will allow that one might have distin- 
guished from the throng of objects calling for attention, 
before the sound of music brought him as near to the 
open gallery over the entrance as he could press. It was 
the li Star Spangled Banner,” swelling out from a great 
chorus and a military band, that opened the ceremonies 
of the evening. Then a gray-haired man came forward, 
and every head was bowed, while a voice went out over 
the assemblage and up to heaven, beseeching that bless- 
ing without which every human work is vain. And 
afterward arose a solemn chorus, Holmes’ “ Army Hymn,” 
the words of which so truly express the spirit that had 
carried our people thus far through the war, and had 
even prompted this gathering, that we cannot resist the 
impulse to give them again in this place : — UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
31 
“ O Lord of Hosts, Almighty King, 
Behold the sacrifice we bring ; 
To every arm Thy strength impart, 
Thy spirit shed through every heart. 
“ Wake in our breasts the living fires, 
The holy faith that warmed our sires ; 
Thy power has made our nation free, 
To die for her is serving Thee. 
“ Be Thou a pillared flame to show 
The midnight snare, the silent foe; 
And when the battle thunders loud, 
Still guide us in its moving cloud. 
“ God of all nations, Sovereign Lord, 
In Thy dread name we draw the sword ; 
We lift Thy starry flag on high, 
That fills with light our stormy sky. 
“ No more its flaming emblems wave 
To bar from hope the trembling slave; 
No more its radiant glories shine 
To blast with woe one child of Thine. 
“From treason’s rent, from murder’s stain, 
Guide Tliou its folds till peace shall reign; 
Till fort and field, till shore and sea, 
Join the loud anthem, Praise to Thee ! ” 
Then General Dix was brought forward and introduced 
to the multitude. It was known, from a hundred sources 
of information, that General Dix was to speak in behalf 
of the Gentlemen’s Executive Committee, and from them 
make over the Fair into the hands of the ladies. It was 
not a long speech, and it sustained throughout that tone 
of dignified and reverent praise with which every heart 
had become already penetrated. He spoke of the object 
of the gathering, and showed how it grew naturally out 
of that lofty devotion to the country which had moved 
the North throughout the whole contest—a devotion 32 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
which had inspired unfaltering courage, endurance, pur- 
pose, generosity, hope, and confidence. And then he 
ended: “ To your hands, ladies, we commit these contri- 
butions from both hemispheres, to be disposed of under 
your auspices. And you may rest assured that the 
sources of consolation and comfort which you are open- 
ing for others, will be poured out in kindred currents of 
gratitude to you, to bless you with the highest and purest 
of all gratifications, — that of alleviating the condition of 
those who are suffering for a cause involving in its issue 
every element of civilization and of social order.” 
It is needless to say what hearty and long-continued 
applause followed such an utterance of the thoughts that 
were uppermost in the minds of all who were present. 
It had not died away when the “ Hallelujah Chorus ” — 
Handel’s ever fresh thanksgiving — arose and seemed to 
perfect the utterances which had just ceased. 
The next speech was, of course, in behalf of the Ladies’ 
Committee. Mr. Joseph H. Choate came forward and ac- 
cepted for the ladies the trust which had been proffered 
them. With a nice feeling of propriety, he did not 
attempt to keep his audience at the point to which they 
had been brought, but spoke with a genial humor that 
soon melted the thoughtful faces around him into smiles. 
And soon that sea of heads was shaking with laughter. 
But by and by it settled again to quiet, as the orator grew 
graver and more earnest. He was paying the just tribute 
to those who had made this great gift to their country’s 
needs, and especially to the artists who had given not 
money alone, not time only, but the best thought of their 
brains, the best work of their hands. “And when the 
record of this Fair is written, and the grand result is 
known, as our gallant armies shall march forth to strike 
another gigantic blow, which will, we hope, send this foul 
rebellion reeling to its last retreat, it shall bear to them 
the glad tidings that they carry with them the hearts and UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
33 
the hopes of more than twenty million loyal Americans; 
and that for as many as faint and fall by the way, all the 
strong arms in the land shall be held out to save them, and all 
its fair hands to heal their wounds or soothe their dying hours ! ” 
And then all the voices in that throng joined in “ Old 
Hundred,” after which the crowd melted and poured itself 
through the Picture Gallery, the Arms and Trophies 
Room, the Indian Department, the Curiosity Shop, the 
Restaurant. Everywhere was light, everywhere the hum 
of conversation, and bright-faced strollers, and much more 
happiness than sight-seeing — that can be left for other 
days. This crowd was busy in meeting friends. The air 
of the place was that of some great social gathering; in 
spite of the vastness of the building and of the throng, 
there was something of coziness present, and so the Fair 
was fitly inaugurated, not only as a charity, but as a 
festival. 
And now, after giving so much of an account of this 
day, we will here pause to say that, for the sake of con- 
venience of arrangement and reference, we shall distrib- 
ute our description of the several more important depart- 
ments of the Fair over our slight record of the incidents 
of each day of that memorable three weeks during which 
the Fair was held. That is, there are eighteen days, each 
of which has some history of its own. We will give the 
gossip of the time in the order which it followed, and 
mingle with it our topography. Our plan leaves a few 
items to be added to the story of Monday, April 4th. 
The morning papers of that day tell of the fate of a 
concert given on the Saturday evening previous, by the 
Philharmonic Society. The concert was improvised for 
the benefit of the Sanitary Commission, but owing to the 
fact that it was only advertised at the last moment, and 
that the music within was aided by the outside accompa- 
niment of lashing rain and wind, it was not a success. 
A better omen for the success of the Fair may be found 34 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
in the papers of the same date. It is recorded that on 
Saturday evening the members of the various committees 
met in the Picture Gallery in Fourteenth Street. The 
gathering was called a reception, although it is difficult 
to discover from the report that anybody was the re- 
ceiver. Toward the close of the evening the Indians dis- 
played their savage graces in a rehearsal of their dances 
in the Wigwam. This heightened the geniality of the 
evening to something as near fun as people ever reach 
now-a-days, and so sent the company home pleasantly, 
and ended the first gathering in the Fair buildings 
with an air of promise. 
On this day, too, the Hippotheatron announced that a 
liberal percentage of its receipts during the entire con- 
tinuance of the Fair, would be made over to the Sanitary 
Commission. 
Tuesday was to be merely a day of exhibition, and 
sales were to begin on Wednesday. Thus far, and in the 
matter of the price of admission, one dollar, the plan laid 
down for this day was carried out. In only one respect 
was the promise of the day not kept. The Union Square 
buildings were to have been opened to the public on 
Tuesday evening. But the work of decoration was not 
quite completed, the tables were not quite filled and 
arranged; a hundred contretemps interposed, and the open- 
ing was deferred for one day. The morning papers were 
full of the parade and the opening ceremonies of the day 
before. But we have already gone over that ground; so 
we have really nothing to do but to make our way to 
Fourteenth Street, and begin our closer survey of that 
great whole whose outline we have indicated. We will 
take things in the natural order, and begin with the De- 
partment of Arms and Trophies, the door of which was 
on the left side of the main passage to the large hall. It 
TUESDAY, APRIL 5. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
35 
perhaps is not wholly fanciful to take this as the natural 
first division of the Fair, and to strengthen our choice by 
the old-fashioned country saying, “the left hand is nearer 
the heart.” The Department of Arms and Trophies was, 
in truth, very near the heart of most visitors to this spot, 
for it was more intimately, than any other department, 
connected with the struggle whose needs had raised these 
buildings, and filled them with so much that was precious 
and beautiful. There were here relics and spoils of 
every battle-field, memorials of every name beloved or 
mourned, and many little objects, mute histories of the 
devotion, even unto death, of men whose names we had 
not known, but whose spirit had been shown us in the 
results of the conflict. Among these monuments of un- 
recorded heroes, was the remnant of a flag that had been 
borne by the 30th Regiment New York Volunteers, at 
the last battle of Bull Run. Its story is simple. Ten 
men who carried these colors were shot dead upon that 
field. “ Thirty-six balls passed through the stars and 
stripes, and the staff was shot into splinters.” Could more 
be said as to the heart that must have been in each of 
those ten men ? Of another flag we were told that 
seventeen of its bearers had received honorable mention, 
and of many more we had only the story that was elo- 
quently told by their sad discolorations, their rents and 
splintered staves. It is no wonder that to people who 
had deep personal interests involved in the war this room 
was the central attraction of the Fair. But everybody 
was more or less interested in war then, and so, even 
on this first day, we found this department constantly 
thronged. Later, when the interest in the celebrated 
vote on the army and navy swords was aroused, another 
motive combined to call people here, and the place was 
crowded, jammed to suffocation the whole day long. But 
on this first day the crowd was not so great that one 
could not get about and carry away in his mind a fair in- 
ventory of what was here to be seen. 36 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
The room itself was more abundant in decoration than 
the main hall, because here so much that was to be ex- 
hibited was applied so readily and so properly to purposes 
of ornament. The bare walls and roof were shrouded in 
soft draperies of crimson, white, and blue — bunting af- 
fording the means — and swords, guns, and trophy flags, 
with the torn banners of our own regiments, could scarcely 
be disposed in any way that would not add beauty. 
The relics chiefly belonged to the four wars of Ameri- 
can history — that of the Revolution, that of 1812, that 
in Mexico, and the war of the Rebellion. The relics of 
the Revolution were from Washington’s Head-quarters 
at Newburgh, from West Point, from the Patent-Office at 
Washington, and a number from private sources. Most 
of these things are too well known to need enumeration, 
and among those presented for the first time to the public, 
we do not remember any of sufficient interest to require 
a separate mention in this place. Among the memorials 
of 1812, however, there was one contribution so large, so 
valuable, so new, that we cannot forbear giving some ac- 
count of it. Nor can we do better than give the very 
words of the “Spirit of the Fair,” which had the merit 
of pointing out the peculiar value of this contribution. 
“ Flags in the Department of Arms and Trophies.—Colonel 
Hawkins, besides the credit of the tasteful arrangement 
of the articles in the Arms and Trophies Department, is 
entitled to the greater credit of rescuing from obscurity 
some seventy flags intimately associated with the history 
and glory of our country. They are principally flags 
captured by our navy during the war of 1812. They 
were found boxed up at the Naval Academy of Newport. 
How long they had been in that condition we cannot say, 
but the ravages of the moths which have nearly destroyed 
some of them, show that they have been long neglected. 
“ The first captured of these flags is that of the French UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
37 
frigate EInsurgente, of forty guns, captured by the Con- 
stellation, under Commodore Truxton, on February 9th, 
1799, after an hour’s contest, the first serious naval con- 
test after the close of the Revolution. The Insurgente 
subsequently passed into our navy. 
“ The Tripolitan flag of the Philadelphia, reminds us of 
the accident by which she passed into the hands of the 
Tripolitans, and the daring manner in which she was cap- 
tured and burned in the harbor of Tripoli, in February, 
1804, by Decatur, who there laid the foundation of 
the fame he subsequently acquired. Cooper, in his 
1 Naval History,’says of this capture: ‘In whatever light 
we regard this exploit, it extorts our admiration and 
praise; the boldness in the conception of the enterprise 
being even surpassed by the perfect manner in which all 
its parts were executed.’ This flag was the sole relic pre- 
served of that noble frigate. The flag of the Alert marks 
the opening of the war of 1812, that vessel of twenty 
guns having been the first vessel of war captured in 
1812. She was captured by the Essex, under Captain 
Porter, in the summer of that year. Next in point of 
time conies the flag and pennant of the Guerriere, cap- 
tured by the Constitution, under Hull; then the flag of the 
Frolic, captured by the Wasp, under Jones, in the famous 
contest in which the guns literally touched each other; 
that of the Macedonian, taken by the United States, under 
Decatur; that of the frigate Java, prize to the Constitution, 
under Bainbridge; of the Peacock, captured by the Hornet, 
under Lawrence, after a brief contest, which left her in 
a sinking condition ; that of the Boxer, captured by the 
Enterprise, in the first successful contest our navy had 
after the loss of the Chesapeake. 
“ Besides these there are the flags of the Reindeer and 
the Avon, both captured by the Wasp; the Epervier, 
captured by the Peacock, which had herself been a prize. 
The flags of the Lady Provost, Chippewa, Little 38 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
Belt, Detroit, Hunter, and Queen Charlotte, remind us of 
Perry’s noble victory on Lake Erie ; but this victory is 
brought before us still more vividly by the Hag which 
hangs between the two posts nearest the entrance, in- 
scribed with the historic words of Lawrence, ‘ Don’t give 
up the ship.’ This is the identical flag which waved on 
board the flag-ship, the Lawrence, during the earlier part 
of the action, and was carried by Perry, when she became 
untenable, in a boat to the Niagara, and there was again 
flung to the breeze. Attached to this flag is the belt of 
the gallant Lawrence, taken from him after his fatal 
wound. 
“ In like manner the flags of the Chubb, Beresford, Linnet, 
and Confiance, carry us back to that day in September, 
1814, when on Lake Champlain, in sight of Plattsburgh, 
McDonough gained his great victory. 
“ No. 688, the royal standard of Great Britain, captured 
by Chauncey and Pike, reminds us of the capture of To- 
ronto by our combined forces. 
“ There are many other flags not less rich in associa- 
tions. Among them those of the Cyane and the Levant, 
captured by the Constitution, under Stewart, the noble old 
veteran who still lingers among us. We hope he may be 
able to visit this most interesting collection, and see once 
again the trophies his valor contributed to win. 
“ Then there are the flags of the Penguin, captured by 
the Hornet; those of the Highflyer, by the President; the 
Algerine frigate Meshbo, by the squadron under Decatur; 
the French frigate Berceau, by the Boston; the Duke of 
Gloucester, by the Julia ; while the flag of the St. Lawrence, 
captured by the privateer Chasseur, reminds us of the 
daring of our ‘ guerrillas of the sea.’ ” 
That was indeed treasure to lie mouldering and moth- 
eaten in humble boxes! In our opinion, these relics 
were inferior in interest only to those of the Rebellion. 
The war which they illustrate was not so great in its UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
39 
motives or stake as that of the Revolution, but the flags 
were absolutely new to the public, and they had the 
more unquestionable merit of being a more complete me- 
morial of one phase of our history, than either the Wash- 
ington or the Newburgh relics. We would not be under- 
stood as undervaluing these collections, but the field 
which they illustrate is so great, that no collection in 
America is sufficient for the purpose. There is need of a 
great national museum of arms and trophies, and in want 
of any such thing, we are perhaps safe in saying, that the 
collection of Revolutionary relics at the New York Fair, 
was the best that ever has been seen. Indeed, taking this 
in connection with the relics in the Old Curiosity Shop, 
and the eighteenth century fireside of the Knickerbocker 
Kitchen, we think that the Fair gave as perfect an illus- 
tration of 1776, as this generation is likely to get, at least 
in the way of a museum. The peculiar value which we 
would claim for the naval flags of 1812 is that relating to 
a comparatively brief period, and to but one side of the 
action of that period, they recalled so much. It was the 
era of commodores, of naval captains who are still the 
pride of the nation, and how many of those heroes are 
brought to mind by these seventy flags—memorials, too, 
of the very deeds by which they won their names — 
Decatur, Hull, Bainbridge, Lawrence, Perry. Couple 
with such names such other suggestive ones as the Con- 
stitution, the Wasp, the Hornet, Lake Erie, and we have 
before our minds nearly the whole of a brilliant phase 
in the early life of our Republic. 
But interesting as these things were, they were not the 
main attractions of the Arms and Trophies Room. Dur- 
ing these earlier days of the Fair, this place was visited 
chiefly for the sake of its relics of the Rebellion. And it 
was principally as illustrating our greatest struggle that 
this collection had been brought together with a care 
and earnestness of purpose that seem almost incredible. 40 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
It is a sufficient indication of the labor of collection, that 
in carrying out their plan, the members of the Committee 
of Arms and Trophies were obliged to write more than a 
thousand letters. But it was labor well expended, since 
its results met with the most thorough appreciation from 
all lovers of monumental history. Then, too, there was 
the satisfaction that the collection was far more complete 
than could have been expected at a day when the armies 
were still in the field, and the greatest captures of the 
war had not yet been made. Indeed, so far as the part 
of New York in the war was concerned, this collection 
was every thing that could be desired. The State had 
added its relics from the Bureau of Military Statistics to 
those from other sources, so that there was not a battle 
of the first three years of the war that was not here rep- 
resented by some stain or rent upon these banners, or by 
some grim trophy of the field. 
This museum, however, was not to be judged as if it 
had been a national museum of relics. One naturally 
falls into a way of treating it as if it were a permanent 
collection, because it was really more complete than any 
museum the nation owns, and therefore seems to have 
claims to be judged critically. But, in fact, its existence 
was to be so brief as to make it undesirable to attempt an 
index of our great struggle, — that would only be worth 
while if the collection could endure long enough for pur- 
poses of study. The design of the Committee on Arms 
and Trophies was to form a collection of American battle 
relics, large enough and rich enough in associations to fill 
with dignity its place in a Metropolitan Fair. That they 
more than succeeded in their object, is shown by the fact 
that, even if the collection had been a permanent instead 
of a transient one, it might have aspired to consideration 
not as a complete museum, indeed, but as the best we 
have ever had in America. To be convinced of this, one 
has only to look through the catalogue of this depart- UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
41 
merit and see how it was filled. There were 1022 articles. 
Note how many sources had sent here their best attrac- 
tions ; how many regiments, how many battles were here 
represented; how various were the materials, and illus- 
trating how many of the phases of war; then, lastly, try 
to think if any thing was wanting to make the collec- 
tion better fitted for its purpose, or what other museum 
could have added to the treasures of this. Perhaps one of 
the best effects of the Arms and Trophies Eoom was, that 
it made one feel the want of a great national historical 
museum, which never can be commenced more easily 
than now, while relics of the Rebellion have not as yet 
been exposed to all the destroying chances of time. But 
even if this want be doomed to remain unsatisfied, the 
exhibition at the Metropolitan Fair, at least, revealed to 
the general public that New York is forming the nucleus 
of a State Museum in the Bureau of Military Statistics 
at Albany. Most visitors at the Fair were surprised to 
learn that more than five hundred articles — arms and 
flags — had been loaned by a bureau whose very exist- 
ence had been unknown to them until then. The Met- 
ropolitan Fair may count, therefore, among its services, 
that it helped to bring this State collection into notice. 
And if, one may cry in the spirit of the popular author- 
esses, the Fair has been the means of adding one banner, 
one trophy, however humble, to our State Museum, it has 
not existed altogether in vain. 
But leaving these outside considerations, and confining 
ourselves to the collection in the Arms and Trophies 
Room, we find many things which it is pleasant, eAren at 
this distant day, to recollect. The war already seems a 
great way back to those who live in this bright and 
ever-changing world of New York. But at that time, 
when even the hopeful were anxious, when the happiest 
knew not what sadness the next morning’s paper might 
unfold to them, with what an eager, present interest one 42 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
viewed these relics. Can any one forget the feeling that 
was sure to rise at the sight of a guidon of the Second 
Artillery, Battery M,— a mere rag, that had been carried 
through thirty-three engagements, beginning with the first 
Bull Run, July 21st, 1861, and ending with the second 
fight upon that same field, 18th October, 1863 ? With 
what a sense of thankfulness, even of affection, did one 
look into the faces of the Battery company, whose pho- 
tographs hung below. How we all longed to do some- 
thing personally for that company ! And a little further 
on, with what respect — the degree and complexion of 
which can now be only remembered, not reproduced — 
did one gaze at a group of-flags of the 3d New York 
Infantry, one of which had been through nine battles in 
Mexico, while the others had seen fourteen of the battles 
of the Rebellion. On turning to the trophies, one can- 
not be sure that it was only with a pure sense of humor 
that one smiled at beholding a Rebel flag emblazoned 
with the choicest doggerel — 
“To Freedom’s battle on we send them; 
God of Battles, Thy help lend them.” 
“ Our cause is just, our duty we know ; 
In God wet rust; to battle we go.” 
People in earnest are not always very considerate; and 
we fear that many bright patriotic ladies, and some sage 
men too, might confess to a little exultation, just a little, 
that the Rebel poetry was so bad. Now that our hearts 
and minds have become cooled, we cannot judge hardly 
the little flaws which human nature may show in the 
noblest of enthusiasms. 
A different sort of pleasure was in the contemplation 
of the other trophies — a pleasure in the promise they 
afforded of future success to our arms. It was noticeable 
that the first flag of the Confederacy, the single star and 
three bars, was very slenderly represented in the collection, UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
43 
while the devices afterwards used were to be found in 
abundance. It was a slight thing, but so far as it went 
it seemed to indicate an increasing balance in favor of 
Union victories. With that kernel of satisfaction it was 
a pleasant study to note the various standards that led 
an already waning hope — the “ Palmetto,” the “ Stars 
and Bars,” the “ Southern Cross,” a black flag from Ma- 
nassas. There was elsewhere an India shawl that had 
been carried as a banner, the sacrifice of a Southern lady 
to the cause of Secession. What might have been the 
result had such spirit as this, equal to that of the maids 
of Saragossa, filled all Southern ladies ? 
Then there were other trophies of arms, ammunition, 
buttons, Confederate currency, a Louisiana newspaper 
printed on the back of wall paper, and a little boat with 
its bit of history attached. In May, 1862, — so ran the 
chronicle, — while General Burnside was besieging Fort 
Macon, North Carolina, some soldiers of the beleaguered 
garrison made this boat, with the box fastened upon its 
deck, and waited their opportunity to send it laden with 
letters across the river to Beaufort. At length one day 
when the wind was fair, the cargo was shut into the box 
on deck, the little sails were nicely trimmed, and the boat 
started for Beaufort as still and lifeless as another Flying 
Dutchman. But the Flying Dutchman only presaged 
bad fortune for other people ; this silent vessel helplessly 
drifted to its own destruction. When it was about half 
way across the river the wind shifted and drove up 
stream, until the luckless mail-carrier came alongside 
General Burnside’s flag-ship. There it was taken on 
board and its freight yielded itself with as good grace 
and with as much profit to the Federal cause as it might 
to the Confederate had the wind only held in one direc- 
tion. It is not written how much difference in the for- 
tune of besieged or besiegers this little capture made; 
so that our field of speculation in regard to that is quite 
unlimited. 44 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
There were other histories in abundance suggested by 
the personal relics in this room ; too many to be in- 
dicated. But we think there was no one of them but 
had its influence in one way — they all helped to show 
how beyond counting were the unnamed acts of heroism, 
the unaccredited heroes of our great struggle. They 
were so many illustrations of that rank-and-file valor 
which does not make its way into histories, or at least 
does not figure greatly in the stately records, but whose 
frequency or scarcity is the real key of the meanness or 
splendor of a nation’s achievements. Here the testimony 
offered as to the existence of that valor among us was so 
rich that we cannot write it down. It is well that its 
being is its own reward. 
The Museum had also a collection of arms and am- 
munition from various armories and manufactories — 
and a few relics of other battles and other modes of 
warfare from our own. Some suits of armor, some old 
foreign weapons, and a few reminders of celebrated 
European fields. One touching memento from Solferino 
cast its gleam of poetry over these. It was an embroid- 
ered handkerchief with a paper pinned to it containing 
some German verses—a soldier’s farewell to his sweet- 
heart— and on the other side a rude water-color drawing 
of Gretchen’s home. This was the one trace of romantic 
love that could be found to soften the stern story of 
battles and sieges — a strain of a guitar heard amid the 
blare of trumpets and the thunder of guns. 
On this first day of the Fair, it could not even be guessed 
what an interest the contest over the army sword would 
excite. But as we are going through the Fair now with 
the advantage we did not then possess, of knowing its 
future, we will profit by our knowledge to devote a lit- 
tle attention to this object whose success was to be so 
great. There was also a navy sword; but this cannot 
claim so much attention from us, as the subscriptions UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
45 
for it were only as one to forty-four compared with those 
for the other. Though one could not guess how much 
more popular one weapon was to be than its fellow, still 
it was evident, from the catalogue of the Arms and 
Trophies Department, that from the outset there was a 
difference in the expectation regarding them. The sim- 
plest proof of this may be found by looking back over 
the passage in the catalogue where they were described. 
“ The two swords contributed by Tiffany & Co., valued at two thousand 
dollars, will be disposed of in the following manner : — 
‘ THE GENERAL’S SWORD, 
By subscriptions of one dollar each, for presentation to the General of 
the Armies of the Union to whom it shall be designated by a plurality 
of the names of the subscribers. 
‘ THE NAVY SWORD 
To be presented in like manner to the United States Navy Officer 
designated.’ ” 
The place of honor is without doubt given to the 
General’s sword in this passage. The same difference is 
noticeable in the description of the two; but wre need 
not quote that. It is enough to say, that the General’s 
sword was a straight and slender blade, with a grip of 
oxidized silver, and inclosed in a scabbard of sterling 
silver, richly gilt. The grip, the guard and its shell, were 
ornamented with reliefs — Hercules with the Nemean 
lion, heads of Medusa and Mars, and a figure of Victory; 
the whole surmounted with a head of America, after Craw- 
ford’s statue, the helmet being set with rubies, diamonds, 
and sapphires, in representation of the national colors. 
Upon the scabbard was the inscription — 
“ Upon your sword sits laurel’d Victory.” 
The grip of the navy sword, as well as its scabbard, 
were of solid silver. The ornamentation was chiefly of 
naval emblems — a rope and anchor, mingled, however, 
with oak leaves and acorns. The devices were as appro- 46 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
priate and simple as they were graceful. The inscription 
on the scabbard was — 
“ Defend thee Heaven and thy Valor.” 
And now, having gone through in such fashion as is 
possible with the Museum of Arms and Trophies, we will 
end our account of this first day with a few words about 
the first number of that little serial, “ The Spirit of the 
Fair.” The first intention had been to edit, for the benefit 
of the Fair, a sheet which should give the telegraphic 
news “ up to time of going to press,” and such other 
items as go to make up a newspaper. But before the 
first number appeared, it was decided that any attempt to 
follow the lead of the great daily papers of the city 
would be worse than useless, and that the “Spirit” should 
confine itself to items relating to the Fair, and to literary 
contributions of general interest. No one will doubt the 
wisdom of this conclusion. As for the spirit which was 
to animate this paper, we cannot better show it than by 
quoting its brief 
“ INTRODUCTORY. 
“ It is customary, when ushering into notice a new periodical or daily 
journal, to impress upon the public mind the trite observation that ‘ a great 
literary want exists, which that particular publication alone can supply. 
“In presenting to the patrons of the Metropolitan Fair this unpre- 
tending little newspaper, we are not aware that any literary vacuum 
yawns to receive it. It is simply an offspring of that great charity 
which to-day spreads a magnificent banquet of utility and taste; and its 
mission will be fulfilled, if, like a page in waiting, it serves the honored 
guests. 
“ It is born of charity — hence it does not require to be ‘ puffed up.’ 
Its existence will terminate with the existence of the Fair — hence its 
‘ youth and inexperience ’ should protect it from the assaults of the critic. 
It is an unpolitical sheet — hence party spirit will not ‘ hawk at and tear 
it.’ It is not Aveighty with philosophic deductions, nor flippant with un- 
timely jests — hence young and old, grave and gay, may recognize in it 
that juste milieu which offends no tastes, and administers to all. 
“ Brief, however, as is the number of its days, it will be apparent that 
there are names among its contributors powerful enough to immortalize UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
47 
any publication, however humble, that may be touched by the wands of 
their genius. Under their influence it may be safely asserted that ‘ The 
Spirit of the Fair ’ will never ‘ wholly die.’ Many visitors to the Fair 
will preserve their copies of this journal as a record and memento of an 
event of which New York is justly proud ; and it is hardly a stretch of 
imagination to presume that many people yet unborn will turn over these 
pages with a curiosity and interest equal to our own. 
“ As an auxiliary, therefore, of the Metropolitan Fair, and in the 
name of that charity which ‘ seeketh not her own,’ we send forth our 
little sheet in the confident belief that it will receive at your hands a 
generous and cordial welcome.” 
Thus pleasantly did the new paper introduce itself. 
As for the promise afforded by the contents of the paper, 
this number contained part of an unpublished manuscript 
of James Fenimore Cooper upon the growth of New York 
City. Three sonnets by Mrs. Kemble, and a translation 
from Metastasio, by William Cullen Bryant. But to 
those who were most interested in the Fair, jjerhaps the 
charm of the number was in a few words that went to 
show the popular nature of this charity. It was the 
People's Fair. “ Every profession, every trade, every 
business is represented,” said the paper. “ No contribu- 
tion, however humble, was declined. The very first gift 
was a common tin pan, from a poor family that desired to 
contribute their mite to the Soldier’s Fair. The second 
was a penknife, from a poor woman who keeps a very 
humble fancy store. Many similar contributions have 
been gratefully accepted by the committees.” 
Another item of like nature, and of even greater inter- 
est, was headed — 
“A BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD. 
“ Among the relics of the war upon exhibition at the Fair is a muti- 
lated dollar bill which has this touching story. A pastor in an inland 
town had called upon his congregation to contribute to the Sanitary Com- 
mission, and had met a liberal response. The next day a woman, who 
depends upon her daily work for her own support and that of her chil- 
dren, brought him a dollar bill to be added as her mite to the collection. 
Her pastor declined to take it, telling her she ought not to give so much, 48 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
but the woman insisted, adding, ‘ We’ve had it in the house many weeks ; 
we cannot spend it.’ 
“ Seeing that the bill was much torn, and supposing that she had found 
difficulty in passing it, her pastor said, ‘ Oh, I ’ll give you a good bill 
for it.’ 
“ ‘ No, that’s not it. It was in brother Sam’s pocket-book when he 
was wounded. He’s dead now, and we have his torn pocket-book ; and 
mother said,’ (the mother is a widow, and he was her only son,) ‘ we 
will give that dollar to the Sanitary Commission ; we cannot spend it.’ 
“ The pastor redeemed the bill for $2, and now sends it to be dis- 
posed of at the Fair. Fifty dollars have already been offered for it, but 
we feel sure that this gift of two widows, of a ball-marked relic of their 
son and brother, will yield to the soldier’s treasury an hundred fold. No 
necessity could have compelled them to spend it, but the cause conse- 
crated it as a holy baptism for the dead.” 
We may end this day by again anticipating time, and 
recording the fact that this bill did afterwards yield “ an 
hundred fold to the soldier’s treasury,” and so became 
doubly precious as a memento of the spirit of 1864. 
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6. 
One opening the morning papers of this day might 
have found enough items relating to the Fair to show 
that it was already established as the chief object of the 
city’s attention so long as it should last. Besides the col- 
umns of description that were posted in the place of 
honor, the first page of each journal, there were scattered 
announcements and notices of tributary amusements 
whose first claim to notice was that they were really 
aids to the great central attraction. 
At the head of the report of yesterday’s success, was 
the announcement that the receipts of the Fair already 
amounted to $150,000. This was perhaps no more than 
might have been expected, but, considering that no sales 
had as yet been made, it was gratifying that the receipts 
were already half as much as had been realized by the 
greatest of similar efforts hitherto. The impatient public 
was then advertised that as the doors of the building in UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSIONS 
49 
Fourteenth Street did not open until eleven o’clock, it 
was worse than useless to put them in a state of siege so 
early as nine. The Union Square building was at last to 
be opened on this evening. Due descriptions were given 
of the glory of its several divisions — the International 
and Children’s Departments, the Knickerbocker Kitchen, 
and the Music Hall. In this last place a concert was 
promised for every night; the first one, for to-night, by 
the Liederkranz Society. Outside of the Fair buildings, 
but still by their purpose brought within its purlieus, 
were offered the following entertainments: A billiard 
tournament, as it was somewhat fancifully called, between 
the chief players of New York, Philadelphia, Washington, 
and Cincinnati; a vocal and instrumental concert at the 
Green Street Methodist Church; and a lecture in the 
Eighteenth Street Methodist Church. At Knoedler’s 
Gallery there was on exhibition Kensett’s “October After- 
noon on Lake George.” On this day it was announced 
that some of the steamboat lines to New York had con- 
sented to give one third of their receipts to the Fair. 
About this time, too, some thrifty tradesmen — of the 
opinion, no doubt, that a thing would be none the worse 
if “ contrived a double debt to pay ” — began to turn the 
Fair to their own account, advertising to all its visitors 
that they should in nowise leave the city before inspect- 
ing the unprecedented bagains offered at Brown’s Em- 
porium, or at Smith’s Palace of Art. 
To-day we shall give, in part, to the Indians, whose 
wigwam was pitched just opposite to the Museum of 
Arms and Trophies. Expectation had been piqued as to 
this department by various paragraphs and rumors which 
had circulated for more than a week previous to the open- 
ing day. The red men were from the Rocky Mountains, 
or from the wilds of Mackerelville, according to the spirit 
of the narrator; they were the subjects alike of romances 
and of jokes. But all were interested in them. Most 
7 50 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
Americans know in reality so little about the original 
possessors of their soil, that any insight into the Indian 
ways and appearances, comes with all the charm of nov- 
elty. And this was a genuine spectacle of some of the 
savage rites. Everybody must have been, certainly ought 
to have been, satisfied of that, for the gentleman who pro- 
posed, and indeed carried out the exhibition, had an un- 
doubted acquaintance with the Indians, and was above 
suspicion of charlatanry. And most people who visited 
the Fair, went, we dare say, in this faith—if any doubted, 
seeing was believing. 
The room, popularly called the “ Wigwam,” was hung 
with Indian garments, skins, furs, interspersed with 
antlered heads and weapons of savage warfare. At one 
end was a stage with a real wigwam on it, and a painted 
background, a landscape representatively savage; at all 
events, bearing no traces of civilization. Upon this stage 
the Indians went through, six or eight times a day, a 
series of dances that were more than corybantic in exe- 
cution — muscular savagery fairly distancing muscular 
Christianity in their common field. 
From the very outset the room was thronged. But 
we may as well say here that this exhibition was, after 
all, any thing but satisfactory to the persons chiefly in- 
terested. Popular as it was, there was plenty of annoy- 
ance behind that painted scene. The Indian Department 
was in many respects one of those experiments whose 
use is to show to future adventurers in the same path 
what to avoid. It was felt that the Wigwam might have 
brought into the treasury of the Fair twice or three times 
as much as it did, if only one or two things could have 
been changed; and it was the daily jarring of those things 
which were not changed that caused the annoyance we 
have mentioned as existing behind that fair and savage 
scene. In the first place, the room was not large enough 
for the proper display of Indian curiosities and perform- 51 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION, 
ances, or for the accommodation of the audience which 
came. It was crowded and ill-ventilated. More room 
had been asked for in the beginning; but the success of 
the Fair was not then assured, and some were faint- 
hearted, so the request was not granted. Thus, by the 
fault of no one, and against the better judgment of some, 
the Wigwam was made a less attractive place of resort 
than its projectors would have made it. Then again, 
there was a difficulty about admissions to this depart- 
ment. Of course, to make this place remunerative, as 
there was nothing here to sell, it was necessary to 
charge an additional admission fee to see the Indians. 
The holders of season tickets claimed that their tickets 
admitted them to all departments of the Fair without 
extra charge. And these people filled the limited room 
allotted to sight-seers in the Wigwam, so that little space 
was left for others. This of course made trouble, and 
finally the expedient was adopted of admitting holders 
of season tickets to three or four performances a day, 
and excluding them from the rest. The difficulty then 
was that these perverse season ticket-holders would not 
remember what performances they were entitled to see, 
and from which they were excluded; and some among 
them questioned the right of the management to choose 
for them when they should and when they should not 
see the Indians. Whichever was the party justly ag- 
grieved, it is certain that the receipts of the Wigwam 
suffered because of the too loosely defined rights of 
season ticket-holders. This difficulty was felt else- 
where, and will probably have to be spoken of again. 
It was one of those troubles necessarily attendant upon 
an undertaking at once so large and so new. They 
would not have been felt had the Fair been repeated; 
and as it was they served as warning lights to the good 
people of Philadelphia when they followed with their 
great Central Fair. And so it fell out that even the 52 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
mistakes of the New York management were turned to 
account, and really served to swell the sum of a future 
contribution to the sick soldier. 
The drawbacks to the perfect success of the Indian 
Department were all the more keenly felt, as it was one 
of those divisions of the Fair which were maintained at 
a great and constant expense. At the outset the getting 
up of the room and stage were costly, and though the 
twenty Indians who performed here offered their services 
without mention of compensation, it was thought no 
more than just to defray the expense they incurred in 
their labor of good will. This included not only trans- 
portation and daily support during the Fair, but main- 
tenance during the week they were kept in New York 
waiting for the Fair to open. All this was paid out of 
the daily receipts of the Wigwam, so that, as we have 
intimated, the free admission of season ticket-holders was 
felt to be a real grievance. Yet, notwithstanding the 
continual drain upon its receipts, the small audience 
which the room allowed, and the large proportion of 
free admissions, the Indian Department returned to the 
treasury of the Fair no less a sum than $1,765.00, — a 
sum large enough to indicate what might have been 
gained under a system enlightened by the mistakes of 
a first attempt. 
The story of the vicissitudes undergone by this de- 
voted Wigwam is not yet told. “ Per varios casus, per 
tot discrimina rerum,” it tended toward its end. We 
shall develop the catastrophe in due order of time. 
Meanwhile we may leave the Indian Department for the 
nonce with a list of its dances, which we will give not 
only in the vernacular, but in the choice aboriginal, as 
published in the morning papers of the time. It needs 
no comment. 
Grand feather dance, . . . Osto-ag-o-\va 
Female dance, Wes-kan-ya. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
53 
War dance, Wa-sa-sa. 
Scalp dance, Oa-na-sa. 
Eagle dance, Ca-na-on-da-da. 
Medicine dance, Da-ya-da-ga-saw. 
Thanksgiving dance, . . . Co-na-o-wo. 
Pigeon dance, Cha-co-wa. 
Bear dance, Wy-wa-e. 
Buffalo dance, Dug-ing-a-go. 
Racoon dance, Chu-a-ga. 
Fish dance, Ken-ja. 
Thanksgiving song .... O-dong-wac. 
Entering the great room of the Fair, yon found, im- 
mediately at your right, a little embowered nook that 
answered somewhat fancifully to the name of “Jacob’s 
Well.” It might have been taken for a shrine for the 
lady it encased, — but made good its claim to be entitled 
a well, from the unlimited lemonade there dispensed. 
The Well returned to the Fair about $640, which is a 
proof of the advantage there might be in filling other 
wells with lemonade instead of water. 
Just beyond was the entrance of the room devoted 
to hardware and house-furnishing goods ; a room that 
perhaps did not show to everybody the pains taken to 
make it a worthy aid to the Fair. In order that it might 
really be all that its name implied, the ladies of the com- 
mittee themselves made many articles of household use 
to stock this room ; and that their labors were judicious- 
ly applied is sufficiently shown by their success. This de- 
partment returned to the Fair, as the result of contribu- 
tions and sales, $23,302.93. 
Then after passing the Treasurer’s room there was the 
Lingerie Department, which filled another of the rooms 
of the Armory building in an unpretending but useful 
fashion. The ladies of this committee found but few 
shops exclusively engaged in the sale of lingerie and 
trimming; so they were thrown more entirely upon 
their own exertions for furnishing their room than most 54 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
of the committees were. Some merchants gave them 
materials, and the ladies made these up into the gar- 
ments thought most desirable. They also gave their 
money, and sent to England and France for new and 
pretty articles of the needed kinds. And the result was 
that, after paying all expenses, they gave in to the treas- 
ury of the Fair no less than $11,642.28. 
We have taken particular notice of this room and 
of that filled with house-furnishing goods, because they 
illustrate so forcibly two points relative to the Fair. 
The first is the general nature of its support, that it 
really represented all trades, all classes, all interests of 
society, and that it appealed not merely to the buyers 
of fancy goods, but as far as possible sought to have 
something for every want. So there were groceries, 
machinery, boots, clothing, dry goods, hoop-skirts and 
hosiery, cattle and carriages. Every tiling found a place 
under that hospitable roof, for every thing might be 
turned to the use of the wounded soldier; and it was 
justly felt that such an effort, to be worthy of its object 
and of the great city where it was made, should be of no 
limited scope, but should be an adequate representation 
of the loyalty and charity of New York. The second 
point is the efficiency of the aid rendered to the Fair by 
many of those departments which were so unpretending 
as to attract little notice from the pleasure-seekers at the 
time, and call for but slight mention at our hands. The 
great success of some of the more modest seeming de- 
partments is a proof of the value of that principle of 
universality upon which the Fair was founded. Here 
were two departments, which belonged to the useful 
rather than to the ornamental, and so doubtless escaped 
the notice of a large majority of visitors to the Four- 
teenth Street building, and yet they brought in to the 
general treasury nearly $35,000. As we shall find it 
barely possible to mention many of these more homely UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
55 
helps to onr great charity, we shall insert in an appendix 
a statement of the returns made by all the departments, 
so that their comparative success may be easily seen. 
Where the returns of any given department seem less 
than might fairly have been expected, we shall deem it 
but due to its managers to explain in these pages, as 
we have done by the Indian Department, the causes of 
deficiency. 
The number of the “ Spirit of the Fair ” for this day, 
(Wednesday, April 6th,) is quite bright with graceful 
verses and jenx iVesprity and contains a few items relative 
to the Fair. For the greater comfort of visitors there is 
an account of the ample provision made in case of fire, 
and also of the precautions taken against this Damocles’ 
sword of all places of amusement. The public are also 
told that there is on duty in and about the Fair build- 
ings, beside detectives, a police force of one hundred and 
thirty-five men, — the best friends of the uninformed and 
of the pilfered. There is also an account of the Russian 
contributions, which is interesting from the fact that they 
were all articles of Russian manufacture, and rare or un- 
known in America. 
We may close our account of to-day by recording the 
quiet beginning of the Sword Vote, which was afterward 
to be such a source of excitement and of gain to the Fair. 
At the hour of closing on Monday night, General Grant 
had received 23 votes, General McClellan 9, and General 
Butler 2. Commander Rowan of the New Ironsides took 
the lead for the navy sword, closely followed by Admiral 
Farragut. Tuesday night, General Grant had received 
111 votes, and General McClellan 95. This evening Ad- 
miral Farragut was somewhat ahead for the naval sword. 
At 10| o’clock a drum corps beat a tattoo, which was 
the signal for departure of all visitors. When all were 
gone taps were beaten, the lights were put out, and the 
great building was left to silence and the night watch- 
men. 56 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
The Union Square building, as has already been stated, 
consisted of two buildings: one on Broadway, and one on 
Fourth Avenue, connected by a third containing the 
Knickerbocker Kitchen and a Music Hall. In the Broad- 
way end was the International Department; on Fourth 
Avenue was the room set apart for the children. In the 
last-mentioned place the opening ceremonies of the build- 
ing were held. It was a pretty room. The ceiling and 
walls, wherever visible, were painted with the then fash- 
ionable cnir color, relieved with delicate patterns in blue 
and maroon. The booths along the walls were elegantly 
draped, and their divisions marked by gonfalon shaped 
ensigns, while a stage at one end of the room gave prom- 
ise of entertainments to beguile the time spent here by 
children. On this evening, crowded with pleasant faces, 
brilliantly lighted and really glowing with color, the Chil- 
dren’s Department was indeed a beautiful sight. The 
opening ceremonies consisted of an opening prayer by 
the Rev. Dr. Dix, speeches by Hon. Samuel B. Ruggles 
and President King of Columbia College, and music inter- 
spersed. It is to be regretted that no good report of 
these exercises was published in the daily journals of the 
time, for the speeches contained matter of permanent 
interest. Mr. Ruggles spoke of the historical character 
of the ground upon which the Union Square buildings 
were erected. The present elliptical inclosure of the Park 
was, in the days of Wouter Van Twiller, nearly bisected 
by the venerable highway leading from the Bowery to 
Bloomingdale and Harlem. It was along this road that 
the ancient originals of the Knickerbocker Kitchen were 
to be found. It was over this road that the broken- 
hearted army of Washington, overpowered by an English 
force, retired into Westchester, and thence into New Jer- 
sey. And after seven long years, that army returned by 
WEDNESDAY EVENING AT UNION SQUARE. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
57 
this same road into the city that had been so long under 
British control. Such were the lights and shadows of the 
Bloomingdale Road. It was Gouverneur Morris who 
selected this spot to become the centre of the metropo- 
lis, and stamped indelibly upon our island of Manhattan 
the large public square now known as Union Place. In 
1834 it was laid out in its nresent form, and at that time 
it was objected to the elliptical form of the inclosure that 
it would cut off large spaces at the corners, to be filled in 
with arid pavement. But the oval shape was adopted 
upon the earnest assurances of its advocates that in great 
public exigencies of the country requiring the assemblage 
of large masses of citizens, the time might come when 
these open spaces would be needed. The history of the 
Rebellion has singularly fulfilled the prediction. “ Can 
any man or woman forget the eventful and memorable 
April of 1861, the sublime and almost instantaneous 
‘musket meetings’ that were congregated in this same 
square, in these same national spaces ? Union Square has 
fairly won a place in American history, and intends to 
keep it.” 
This report of Mr. Ruggles’s speech is made up from 
two others differing greatly in the wording of such parts 
as they give in common, and both fragmentary in charac- 
ter. One cannot hold the orator responsible in the least 
for the manner; but we have carefully preserved these 
facts as showing the great interest already attaching to 
ground which was rendered still more illustrious by the 
three weeks whose history we are now writing. 
The music of the evening was performed by the Lied- 
erkranz Society, assisted by an orchestra of forty mem- 
bers; and the programme was so good as to excite 
pleasant emotions in reading it over even at this late day. 
The booths in the Children’s Department were espe- 
cially calculated to meet the wants of the little folks. 
There was a bewildering variety of toys, confectionery, 58 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
children’s books; a miniature skating-pond, offset by a 
tiny ball-room; soda water and lemonade fountains, and 
an ice-cream stand, — viewed with unceasing longing by 
the children, but not so attractive to their guardians and 
doctors, — a generous “ grab-bag,” and a wonderful “ old- 
woman-in-a-shoe.” The public and private schools, and 
the public charities, were represented in booths filled by 
them. And what with the pretty room, the booths and 
the children’s faces, this department was one of the 
pleasantest in the Fair. 
But the mistakes of inexperience were as keenly felt 
here as in the “ Wigwam.” Both departments had 
managers whose plans had in them every element of 
success, but they were thwarted, of course not mali- 
ciously, but merely because the general arrangements 
made were inadequate to meet the very diverse require- 
ments of some of the divisions of the Fair. The diffi- 
culty in regard to season tickets was felt in the Children’s 
Department as in the Wigwam, though the cases were 
somewhat different. In the children’s room there were 
conflicting needs to be reconciled. Thus, the room was a 
bazaar, and so it was for its interest to be open freely to 
everybody who had money to spend. It was also a 
theatre, where amusements had to be supported at a 
large cost, and so it demanded for its support at certain 
hours an extra admission fee. The task of clearing the 
room of buyers once in, so often, in order to refill it with 
little pleasure-seekers, who would reimburse Punch and 
Judy, or the learned dogs for their arduous labors, was too 
much for the management — would have been too much 
even had not those persistent season ticket-holders in- 
sisted upon their right to be present everywhere without 
additional charge. This twofold difficulty was one before 
which the general management of the Fair felt obliged 
to bow; and, naturally enough, those who had fitted up 
this attractive place for the little folks, felt all the diffi- UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
59 
culties of a system which so diminished the value of their 
contributions. In spite, however, of all drawbacks, the 
Children’s Department continued a popular resort while 
the Fair lasted, and yielded to the general treasury, over 
and above all expenses, $14,647.10. 
The papers of this morning devote scarcely less space 
to the Fair than they did yesterday. There is as much 
to be described as ever. The headings in one journal 
are, “The Metropolitan Fair. Immense throng of visitors. 
Opening of the Union Square Building. Inaugural Ceremo- 
nies. Receipts of yesterday, $77,698. Total amount in Treas- 
ury, $400,000.” It may be noticed here that the “re- 
ceipts of yesterday ” are stated with great apparent ex- 
actness, while the total amount in the treasury has a look 
of being carelessly given in round numbers. Another 
paper announces more briefly but quite as startlingly: 
“ The Metropolitan Fair. The increasing interest. Seventy - 
three thousand dollars 7'eceived for tickets. Opening of Union 
Square Building.” That seventy-three thousand dol- 
lars is delightfully vague and sensational. Was it all 
taken in on Wednesday, leaving four thousand six hun- 
dred and ninety-eight dollars the difference between this 
amount taken for tickets and the receipts of yesterday as 
given in the other paper, for the amount of Wednesday’s 
sales ? That is too unlikely. Does the paper then mean 
that this is the sum received for tickets up to this date, 
Thursday, April 7th? Perhaps it does, but in that case it 
is mistaken. We have looked into this matter somewhat 
particularly, and find that the sales of tickets at the offices 
in Fourteenth Street and Union Square, amounted on 
Wednesday night to $37,389.75, and that the sales for 
Wednesday, April 6th, were the largest of any day dur- 
ing the Fair — $16,848. There are no daily returns 
from sales of tickets at other places, so that the seven ty- 
THURSDAY, APRIL 7. 60 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
three thousand must either have been made by reversing 
the order of the first two figures in the real returns, or it 
was some such mistake as the hurry of the time made 
common enough. 
Among the items relating to the Fair we find that the 
Sword Vote, at the hour of closing the night before, stood 
— General McClellan 482, General Grant 435. The vote 
for the navy sword was pretty evenly divided between 
Admirals Farragut and Dupont, and Commodore Rowan. 
Three pickpockets, all women, were arrested, and, with 
placards about their necks announcing their character, 
they were marched through the building, escorted by 
four policemen,—an exhibition so displeasing to the visit- 
ors at the Fair, that it was not repeated. We are told by 
several papers that the police daily found a large number 
of lost articles, such as porte-monnaies, gloves, handker- 
chiefs, scarfs, and veils, and that a station was opened 
where people might reclaim their property. It was 
stated this morning that the Manhattan Gas Company 
had agreed to furnish the gas used during the Fair as 
their contribution to the cause.1 The outside entertain- 
ments in aid of the Fair announced for this evening, are a 
“dramatic and musical entertainment” by the children of 
the public schools in the Fourth Ward, and a concert at 
the Cooper Institute by the children of the schools in 
the Seventeenth Ward, assisted by Grafulla’s Band. 
One of the journals to-day told a little incident that 
might have been worked up very effectively by a fenille- 
toniste, did artists of this class only exist among us. An 
Alpine peasant-woman came to our consul at Zurich with 
a gift for the great Fair, moved not so much by a general 
sympathy with wounded soldiers as by tenderness for her 
boy, who had gone to America and was then in the Union 
1 In fact, the Gas Company, on account of the disloyal feeling of certain in- 
fluential stockholders, rescinded their agreement, and sent in bills for the gas 
used without the slightest deduction. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
61 
army. The poor woman perhaps did not know what fine 
sentiment is, but she had enough of the real feeling 
which better educated people torture into sentiment, to 
choose her gift with great delicacy, — a wooden wine-cup 
that had once belonged to her son, and a tiny book of. 
pressed Alpine flowers. These things the good old wo- 
man brought to the American consul for a tribute to the 
great American Fair, or, perhaps, with motherly narrow- 
ness, she only intended them for the charity which might 
aid her boy at his need. At all events, she wrought their 
presentation into as pretty a dramatic scene as she could 
have performed had she been an opera peasant in a satin 
bodice, and fluttering with ribbons. She took a bottle of 
red Switzer wine from her pocket, and filling the cup 
handed it to the consul, and then drank herself, saying, 
“ Here’s a health and a greeting to America; God bless 
my boy’s new fatherland.” The consul of course replied, 
by coupling the old with the new fatherland in the bless- 
ing, for which this dramatic old lady thanked him, and 
went away with real, not scenic tears in her eyes. There 
is scarcely a wine in Switzerland that rises above the 
rank of third rate, but does any one believe that the con- 
sul was fastidiously critical about the taste of this cup- 
ful ? At any rate, there was such an impression of simple 
tenderness and nobility of feeling left by this scene, that 
a lady who happened to be present was moved to write 
some tributary verses, which were placed in the cup, and 
the whole gift was sent to America as helping to tell the 
story of the sympathy felt everywhere by God’s poor for 
their fellows. 
An impatient public was again notified by the journals 
of this morning, that there was no use in besieging the 
doors of the Fourteenth Street building so early as nine 
o’clock, since they positively must remain unopened to 
visitors until eleven. The time from eight till eleven, we 
were informed, was used in arranging the various stands 62 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
for the day, getting out valuable goods from the safes 
where they had been kept over night, getting in fresh 
supplies of flowers and edibles, and making every station 
look as if nothing had been removed from it the day 
before. These three hours of arrangement were held of 
especial consequence this day, because as the admission 
was for Thursday and the rest of the week to be reduced 
to fifty cents, a great crowd was to be expected, and 
additional preparations made in consequence. But a 
crowd was a matter of course, and over-punctuality was 
equally a matter of course, and the annoyances springing 
from these causes could be easily forgiven as mere penal- 
ties of popularity; annoyances, it is true, but still such 
as brought with them their compensation. 
The last room in the Fourteenth Street building to 
which we gave attention, was that devoted to lingerie and 
trimmings. Just beyond this room was the entrance to 
the Restaurant, though between the door and the Restau- 
rant intervened another room worthy of more than our 
passing notice. It contained the departments of Tobacco 
and Liquors, Drugs and Perfumeries, Soaps and Candles, 
and Groceries, — names of solid sound, and returning an 
amount of appropriate solidity to the Fair — no less than 
$83,301.30, which may be subdivided and exhibited in a 
tabular fashion, as follows : — 
Drugs and Perfumeries, $5,982.75 
Oil, Soaps, and Candles, 8,522.06 
Wines, Liquors, and Tobacco, 17,736.16 
Groceries, 51,060.33 
$83,301.30 
In addition it may be mentioned, in regard to the last 
two of these departments, that they were to some extent 
represented in the sales of the Restaurant and the Knick- 
erbocker Kitchen, and in regard to the first two, it will 
readily strike any one that it was evidence of good UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
63 
management that two departments offering nothing that 
is usually bought at fairs should yet return to the treas- 
ury such amounts. It must have been made evident to 
people that it wras desirable to buy at these places, both 
on account of the quality and prices of the goods sold. 
And the result is creditable to the policy of the Execu- 
tive Committee, which at the outset declared that the 
market value of all goods was to fix their prices at the 
Fair. 
Blit this room, as we have said before, was a thorough- 
fare. It wras regarded by most people who went into it 
as an entrance to the Restaurant ; and so the crowd 
thronging through was out of all proportion to the 
number of buyers. As for the Restaurant itself it was, 
as it should have been, one of the great attractions of 
the Fair. It occupied a building ninety-five feet long by 
seventy-five wide, and was divided into two floors. The 
lower room had more of the character of a cafe, while 
the upper room was the restaurant proper and dining- 
hall. Here from one till three, and from five till six 
o’clock daily was a table d'hote — at other times meals 
were served d la carte. Both rooms, it was said, would 
together accommodate a thousand guests, and as for the 
manner of their entertainment, there wrere good cooks, 
poor waiters, and pleasant surroundings. No more 
cheerful, pretty eating-rooms could be found in New 
York. They were decorated so nearly in the same man- 
ner, that a description of the cafe will serve also for the 
dining-hall. Please call up, then, in imagination or mem- 
ory, as the case may demand, a large room whose walls 
and ceiling are covered with white muslin cloth — the 
sides of the room being relieved with panels of delicate 
fawn color surrounded with gilt bands, and yet further 
with beautiful pictures, lent from a private collection, 
with large mirrors, and draperies of flags. This room was 
abundantly airy and light, and especially at night when 64 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
a full blaze of gas added its brightness. The mise en scene 
was very brilliant. The centre of the floor was occupied 
by a round table covered with fruits and wax flowers, 
while thirteen tables about the corners and sides were 
devoted to those kinds of edibles which are particularly 
attractive to children, — children of mature as well as 
tender years, — cakes, confections, marvels in ‘patisserie, 
coffee, tea, chocolate, a maizena stand, and, delightful 
to young men, a sheltered corner for the dispensing of 
gaufre cakes, of which more anon. Besides all this the 
cafe was furnished with fifty small marble-topped tables, 
where were to be had the various dainties projoerly apper- 
taining to such a place. And, to crown the whole, these 
allurements were eked out with a table for the sale of 
cigarettes, which were bought, however, with the limita- 
tion which pertains by law to liquors bought at a grocer’s, 
and were “ not to be consumed on the premises.” 
The only difference which need be noticed in the 
upper room arose from its being used solely as a dining- 
hall. It was occupied by long tables for the table d'hote, 
and by small round tables for parties. It was perhaps 
more attractive to gentlemen than the lower room, be- 
cause it only furnished and suggested their one leisurely 
and social meal. It would seat about four hundred and 
sixty guests at once. The whole establishment was sup- 
plemented by an excellent kitchen. The carving table 
would have done honor to any hotel. The pastry room, 
china closets, wash room and store rooms, were made 
as complete as possible, with the very limited space 
allotted. 
The building was large enough and was well enough 
arranged for a very generous hospitality, and was indeed 
generously managed. Perhaps as good and complete re- 
port of the Restaurant as could be given is afforded by 
its menu, which, with prices duly set forth, we accordingly 
append. Comparing the prices with those of any good UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
65 
Restaurant to-day, one is tempted to repeat the frequent 
sigh over the costliness of present dinners. If memory 
serves us, the charges at this Fair Restaurant were, even 
in the time of them, rather under than over those at 
most places where meals could be as nicely cooked and 
served. The attendant wine-list has been swallowed up 
in that vast reservoir of oblivion to which old papers run 
so swift a course. It may be remarked, by the way, that 
a liquor limitation law obtained at the Fair : it was to 
the effect that wines should be sold only by the bottle, 
and as the accompaniment of dinners. What has been 
roughly called the American fashion of “ perpendicular 
drinking,” meaning, thereby, the consumption at a bar 
of the various beverages ordinarily drunk standing, was 
tabooed; not so much because of the ungracefulness of 
the fashion as out of regard to its unrespectability. 
Whether there would have been any disorder or not, if 
there had been no such rule, is of course out of our 
power to say; but, at least, the chances of intoxication 
were reduced to their lowest by removing the opportu- 
nity for frequent drinking which a bar affords. But 
leaving the subject of potables, revenom a nos moutons, 
and to the various solid elements of the dinner. 
“ BILL OF FARE. 
$ Cts. 
Green turtle 50 
Mock turtle 35 
Oyster 25 
SOUPS. 
$ Cts. 
Chicken 30 
Tomato 25 
Julien 20 
OYSTERS. 
Stewed, dozen 
Fried, dozen 
25 | Escalloped, dozen 30 
40 I 66 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
$ Cts. 
Porter-house steak 50 
Porter-house steak with truf- 
fles 1.00 
Porter-house steak with mush- 
rooms 75 
Porter-house steak with to- 
mato sauce 70 
Mutton chops, plain 30 
Mutton chops, with truffles. .75 
Mutton chops with mush- 
rooms 60 
BEOILED. 
$ Cts. 
Mutton chops with tomato 
sauce 40 
Filet de boeuf 50 
Filet de boeuf with truffles. 1.00 
Filet de boeuf with mush- 
rooms 75 
Filet de boeuf with tomato 
sauce 60 
Veal cutlets, plain 40 
Veal cutlets, breaded 35 
Veal cutlets with peas 50 
EGGS. 
Boiled 15 
With ham 50 
Scrambled 25 
Poached . 25 
Omelet 25 
Fried potatoes 10 
Stew’ed potatoes 10 
A la Lyonnaise 15 
Mashed potatoes 10 
Tomatoes .15 
VEGETABLES. 
Green corn 15 
Peas 25 
Lima beans 20 
Spinach 20 
Lettuce 20 
COLD DISHES. 
Lobster salad 25 
Celery salad 25 
Chicken salad 50 
Boned turkey.. 50 1 
Boned chicken 50 
Beef tongue 30 
Ham 30 
Chicken (half, .50) 1.00 
Charlotte russe .25 
Wine jelly 25 
Blanc Mange 25 
Meringues 25 
Apple pie. 10 
Mince pie 10 
PASTKY. 
Cranberry pie 10 
Strawberry pie 10 
Jelly tarts 10 
Strawberry tarts 10 
Jelly cake 10 
Plum-pudding 25 UNITED STATES SANITARY- COMMISSION. 
67 
ICE CREAM. 
$ Cts. 
Lemon .15 
Chocolate 15 
$ Cts. 
Vanilla 15 
Strawberry 15 
FRUIT, ETC. 
Apples 10 
Oranges 15 
Kaisins 15 
Almonds 10 
Walnuts 10 
Coffee 15 
Black tea 15 
Green tea 15 
Chocolate 15 
On and after Tuesday, April 5th, table d'hote will be 
served from one until three o’clock, and from five until 
six o’clock. At all other times meals will be served a 
la carte only.” 
Nor does this bill of fare indicate the full range of the 
Restaurant. A gentleman might leave an order on his 
way down-town for a dinner of so many covers at such 
an hour. Many did do so, and in such cases the menu 
was not bounded by the limits given above. Any dainty 
suggested could then be provided, and dinners that would 
not have discredited Delmonico’s were eaten in this 
temporary salle a manger. The table appointments were 
neat, the room pleasant, the wines well chosen, the dishes 
properly cooked : the service only was not of the best. 
Beyond this every requisite of a good dinner lay with the 
eaters; if they were bright, good-natured and suited to 
each other, there is no reason why Brillat-Savarin himself 
should not have dined here with pleasure. 
Among the side-tables in the lower room there was a 
“Maizena department,” where all the dishes sold were made 
from that farinaceous dainty. The number of different 
edibles served up at this stand, was said to be quite 
wonderful in its way. And then there was the Normandy 68 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
table, which was really one of the most attractive spots 
in the Fair — a corner of the Restaurant wrhere several 
young ladies, attired as peasant-girls of Normandy, and 
conspicuous by means of its pretty and picturesque cap, 
baked and dispensed delicious gauffre cakes to the wise. 
Those wTho saw that charming corner, and tasted those 
cakes, will scarcely need to be reminded of the Normandy 
table. To the less fortunate it must be explained that 
gauffre cakes are a sort of waffle of less gross and material 
formation than the ordinary, and that when taken hot 
from the griddle they are deftly rolled up and adminis- 
tered by the attendant cigar-wise between the lips of the 
recipient. When it is considered that the attendants here 
were young ladies in a peculiarly quaint, picturesque, and 
becoming costume, and that they seemed heartily to enjoy 
their novel position, it will be easily believed that they 
and their cakes were eagerly sought for night after 
night by the same delighted gentlemen. 
The Restaurant, however, was one of those depart- 
ments, which from a certain point of view were not so 
very successful. Unfortunately this point of view was 
the pecuniary; and the Restaurant, satisfactory to the 
gastronomer and a real credit to the Fair, did not result 
in a great contribution to the treasury. Not that money 
was lost here ; in fact a good deal of money was made, 
but not nearly so much as might have been made had 
matters been otherwise arranged. No blame is to be 
attached to any one, — perhaps matters could not have 
been as well arranged otherwise, — but it is due to 
the Restaurant to show why a department that was so 
thronged and so popular was not able to make a 
large return. The reasons were few but sufficient. In 
the first place, the table furniture of all sorts had to be 
bought outright, and, of course, to meet the demands of 
such a place, had to be provided in large quantities. 
Then there were servants to be hired, both of which UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
69 
would have to be counted among the ordinary and 
necessary expenses of such a Restaurant. But this was 
by no means all: sugars, spices, tea, and other kitchen 
necessaries were given to the grocers’ committee instead 
of to the Restaurant, and so of wines — the Restaurant 
was obliged to buy all these things. But that is of the 
less account, since, had it been otherwise, the grocers’ 
and wine-dealers’ committees must have rendered smaller 
returns. These things were given to the Fair, and it is 
a matter of little importance in which department they 
were counted. It is scarcely necessary, after saying so 
much, to add that every thing else for the Restaurant was 
bought, — meats, eggs, butter, milk, vegetables, — and so 
the whole story is told. Through want of a proper 
understanding on the part of people who had these last- 
mentioned articles to give, they were only contributed 
in limited quantities. It is a pleasant appendix to this 
story of hardly satisfied wants, that some gentlemen did 
supply the Restaurant with abundance of good coffee 
during the continuance of the Fair; that others gave all 
the flour and hams that were wanted ; and that, despite all 
the drawbacks we have named, this busy department suc- 
ceeded so far as to make over to the treasury $7,256.65. 
Regarded merely as the profits of a three weeks’ business, 
where the expense of an outfit as well as the regular 
running expenses were deducted, this is indeed no mean 
sum. The amount was only to be regretted as it had to 
bear comparison with the returns of departments where 
the outlay was little or nothing, and where all receipts 
were clear gain. 
To show what must have been the returns of the Res- 
taurant, had every thing been furnished it as was done 
to many departments, we have only to say that its gross 
receipts were $56,000 from sales. This statement reveals 
also the magnitude of those expenditures we have enu- 
merated. But small as were the returns when compared 70 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
with the receipts, we are bound in justice to the ladies 
of the Restaurant, to acknowledge that they had two 
sources of consolation : the things they needed were 
given to the Fair through some channel or other, and 
so the amount made up for the Sanitary Commission 
was not affected by their fortunes; and then, they had 
the pleasure of knowing that the Restaurant answered 
perfectly its end of giving satisfaction to its guests. If 
it had not added one cent to the treasury the Restaurant 
would still have been indispensable to the attractiveness 
and completeness of the Fair. 
In one of the daily papers of the time, we find the 
following statistics, which are so impressive from the 
magnitude of their figures that we have chosen to close 
with them our account of the Restaurant. The passage 
reads as if the public had the mouth of Gargantua, added 
to a fondness for crockery equal to that of the fabled 
bull who made a china shop the scene of his happiest 
exploit. 
“ The kitchen is capable of providing food for from three thousand to 
ten thousand per diem, without inconvenience or confusion, and a further 
idea of the extensive scale of the arrangements may be gathered from 
the fact, that among the indispensable accessories which had to be pro- 
vided for the Restaurant were 82,000 pieces of crockery, and 10,000 
pieces of glass, to say nothing of the stores of cutlery, plated-ware, table 
linen, &c. One hundred and twenty thousand oysters have been con- 
sumed in the course of one day in the upper and lower rooms. The 
wages of the three hundred and forty-two waiters and other servants 
amount to from $3,500 to $3,600 per week, and the total expenditure of 
the establishment reaches from $1,900 to $3,000 per day.” 
This paragraph confirms sufficiently our statements 
regarding the active usefulness of this department to 
the Fair. A public, which consumed one hundred and 
twenty thousand oysters, in addition to the rest of its 
eating and drinking, must have been a contented public; 
and an establishment which could confer so much good 
feeling may safely rest upon its laurels without further 
praise from us. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
71 
Opening from the upper room of the Restaurant was 
a gallery extending along the southern front of the 
building, and containing several divisions, which we 
shall begin to examine to-morrow. In the diagram of 
the buildings these divisions are marked: u Furniture 
Department, Cloaks, Mantillas, Curiosities, Ladies'’ Toilet, Li- 
brary, Architectural Ornaments, Ladies Execidive Committee” 
with a projection marked “ Orchestra” in front of their 
entrances. 
FRIDAY, APRIL 8. 
From the journals of this morning it appears that 
the advice given to the multitude to stay away from the 
Fair until the doors should be opened was no better than 
thrown away. Two hours before there could be any 
hope of admission, ladies began to gather about the en- 
trance to the Fourteenth Street buildings, and by eleven 
o’clock a throng of fifteen hundred persons was in wait- 
ing. Thursday was a fifty cent day, and as the sum 
realized from the sale of single tickets was about that of 
Wednesday, we are safe in putting the number of visitors 
on the latter day at double that of the former. The 
various departments were so crowded that there was no 
chance for display,— so said the ladies in charge,—and de- 
spite the attendance, not nearly so many sales were made 
as on Wednesday. The Restaurant, indeed, prospered, 
while the keepers of stalls were harassed and overbur- 
dened to no profit; the extremity of one part was the 
opportunity of another. But the discomfort ruled so 
that on Friday the former price of admission, one dollar, 
was resumed. It was also announced, on this morning, 
that the holders of season tickets were entitled to visit 
the Arms and Trophies, Indian, and all other departments 
without additional charge. This was a speedy settlement 
of a difficulty. All those departments that were galleries 
of exhibition and not sales-rooms, suffered pecuniarily, 72 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
because from this time they were so largely filled by 
“ dead-heads,” but the mistake had been made at the 
outset and there was no alternative but to yield as grace- 
fully as might be. 
The Sword Yote on Thursday night stood — General 
McClellan, 1,113; General Grant, 1,001; General Mc- 
Clellan’s majority, 112. It is plain from this that interest 
was awakening in regard to these swords. The vote of 
Thursday was greater than that of Monday, Tuesday, and 
Wednesday together. Of the votes for the Navy Sword, 
Admiral Farragut had one hundred and ten, and Com- 
modore Rowan fifty-seven. Already more than the full 
value of both swords had been returned to the treasury 
of the Fair. There is a notice given of a concert for this, 
Friday evening, at Niblo’s Saloon. It is by the children 
of the First Ward schools, and is for the benefit of the 
Fair. There are also chronicled, as parts of this same 
omnipresent festive charity, a private concert, and another 
public-school entertainment by the pupils of Grammar 
School No. 50, at Tubby Hook, both taking place on 
Wednesday evening. The entire receipts of Saturday 
evening at Barniun’s Museum, are devoted beforehand 
to the same beneficent treasury. The last item that we 
find recorded in the journals of this day, is that the 
visitors to the Fair, day and evening of Thursday, num- 
bered thirty thousand two hundred and forty-four. We 
have no means of verifying this statement now, but 
whether accurate or not, it is at least indication that the 
crowd on the “ fifty-cent day” was something fearful, and 
is a sufficient justification of the immediate return to a 
higher price of admission. 
Opening out from the upper saloon of the Restaurant 
was the Furniture Department, and next to that a room 
devoted to Cloaks and Mantillas. No details relating to 
these are to be found, so we may hasten on to the Curi- 
osity Shop, which, as was to be expected, was one of the UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
73 
crowded departments of the Fair. We may as well say 
at the outset, that as this was one of those rooms which 
depended somewhat upon the price of admission for 
support, it suffered along with the Wigwam, etc., from 
the all penetrating season tickets. But the Curiosity 
Shop was also a sales-room, and so its sufferings were 
mitigated, and its receipts respectable. We have spoken 
twice as if this were a single room. Out of justice we 
must say that the Curiosity Shop was overflowingly full, 
though spreading itself through two of the chambers of 
the Armory building. The collection was intended to 
have a sufficiently varied character. A circular was 
issued which, had it been perfectly answered, might have 
filled the vast building with a museum of antiquities. To 
use the language of its projectors, the Curiosity Shop 
“ will take all waifs and strays which would be out of 
place in other departments, so that nothing will be lost 
which can be made in any way interesting, either to 
the general public or to collectors. It will necessarily 
embrace a very wide field, and include not only objects 
valuable from their beauty or variety, but from their con- 
nection with particular individuals or periods, and even 
from grotesqueness, oddity or intense ugliness. Among 
those which may be enumerated are pieces of antique 
furniture, articles of dress of quaint and by-gone fashions, 
tapestry, samplers, &c. ; old books and scrap-books, old 
paintings and engravings, manuscripts and autographs; 
pieces of armor and arms of all kinds, saddles, spurs and 
bridles; relics of old, the Historical and Revolutionary 
times, and of the Rebellion ; Indian curiosities and man- 
ufactures peculiar to other barbarous and savage nations; 
old china and glass, coins and medals; ancient music and 
old musical instruments of curious make; old-fashioned 
jewels and personal or household ornaments; minerals 
and shells, stuffed birds and animals ; in short, every 74 
liECOED OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
thing, however little its intrinsic value, which will add 
interest to the Museum or attract the curiosity hunter.” 
In response to this appeal, a Museum was gathered 
together more than sufficient, as we have hinted, for the 
space allotted to it. A catalogue enumerating six hun- 
dred and twenty-three lots was published, which one 
cannot look over without wishing that a collection of 
such merit, variety and interest might have been pre- 
served as the nucleus of a great Metropolitan Museum. 
That which we have already said concerning the depart- 
ment of Arms and Trophies might, without violence, be 
made to apply to the Curiosity Shop. The latter ex- 
hibition was less exclusively illustrative of American 
history than the former; but its wider range of sugges- 
tion showed what a true museum should be. And the 
great wonder is that some shrewd Yankee, observant 
of the interest excited by this collection, lias not yet 
sought either glory or profit by establishing a perma- 
nent Curiosity Shop. But our present mission is that 
of a chronicler, and we will therefore, without further 
attempt to show “what were good to be done,” resume 
our account. 
Despite the number of subjects illustrated by this 
collection, American history was not poorly represented. 
It should be borne in mind that all relics of the flood 
and field were kept in the Arms and Trophies Room, 
while nearly all letters and papers were in the Autograph 
Department; so that the range of the Curiosity Shop 
was limited in these two directions. Still there were 
memorials of the social life, and some relating to the 
public career of our Revolutionary fathers. There were 
articles of dress that had once belonged to Washington, 
and a precious tea-service of his. Indeed costumes, many 
of them associated with historic men and women, were so 
numerous as to exhibit nearly all the changes in fashion 
from colonial days to times quite near our own. One UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
75 
lady exhibited a small collection of old hats, dated sever- 
ally, 1810, 1824, 1830, two of 1834, and one of a later 
date; another contributed a lot vaguely set down in 
the catalogue as “ Twenty Costumes of Old Times,” il- 
lustrating the long period of contracted skirts, between 
the discarded and the resumed hoop ; and many others 
drew from attic trunks and camphor-scented boxes those 
stores of satin slippers, robes, court and wedding dresses, 
which so many provident ladies keep on hand for chance 
tableaux and theatricals. There were also Indian cos- 
tumes which escaped the foragers for the Wigwam; and, 
not throwing light upon American history, but still 
relevant to the matter of costume in hand, a few dresses 
from England and the Continent, some as old as the 
sixteenth century. 
Relics of the home life of our forefathers were, of 
course, plenty, though not so many as there would have 
been had not the Knickerbocker Kitchen demanded an 
abundant furnishing. One memento of the ancient Dutch 
house-keeping — the plate once belonging to Governor 
Stuyvesant, bearing date 1647 —• was reserved to the 
Curiosity Shop ; and near by, contrasting in its extreme 
perishability with the enduring silver, was the civic 
wreath of laurel, oak, and cypress, presented to General 
Lafayette at Yorktown, Virginia, just forty years before, 
on the forty-third anniversary after the surrender of Lord 
Cornwallis. The collection of American relics was made 
up from the souvenirs of a hundred families, and so 
presented many articles, such as those instanced above, 
which would be unlikely ever to see the light of a public 
museum. There were the old china, and silver, the 
antique chairs, and all those things which are carefully 
preserved in quiet homes, but are not yet in this country 
articles of traffic ; the one dealer in “ Antiques ” that 
New York can boast, being able at present to display but 
little that is valuable either for its age, its rarity, or its 
associations. 76 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
We have already said that the curiousness of the Curi- 
osity Shop was not only, nor even prominently, in Amer- 
ican relics. We cannot do more than mention some of the 
elements of that bewildering conglomerate that exhibited 
1 mankind from China to Peru,” and from Pharaoh to 
\rictor Hugo. The oldest curiosity displayed was a scar- 
abmus bracelet of stone, that belonged only thirty-three 
centuries ago to Thothmes III. Though most people of 
to-day have forgotten how great a King Thothmes III. 
was when Egyptian sculpture was at its best, and new 
temples were going up in Thebes and Memphis, yet he 
could still impress people by means of his bracelet, which 
caused a bronze censer near by, only one thousand years 
old, to seem a mere thing of yesterday, and made us all 
ashamed of our two-penny antiquities of the eighteenth 
century. There were other Egyptian relics, though after 
Thothmes there is little awe in the mention of Raineses. 
Still, when one has resigned one’s self to the comparative 
newness of every thing not Egyptian or Etruscan, which 
indeed one can scarcely help doing, it is not uninteresting 
to know that this little museum contained not only Greek 
and Roman coins, vases, and bronzes, but Japanese and 
Chinese work of many kinds; some, and that of the most 
interesting too, making no pretence at all to antiquity. 
The windows were curtained with hangings presented by 
the Tycoon of Japan to a late American minister, while 
the Emperor of China was an involuntary contributor to 
the Fair, being represented by some magnificent robes, 
plundered from the summer palace at Pekin, when it w7as 
sacked by the English and French in 1860. These were 
of satin, and embroidered with the imperial dragon; and 
among them was the covering of the state bed. By the 
way, it may be said apropos of bed-quilts, that the Em- 
peror of China was not the only sovereign represented 
by this indispensable. A quilt that had once covered the 
beautiful Mary of Scotland, was here, and one made by UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
77 
one of the earlier among the American sovereign peo- 
ple— a patchwork quilt of calico — bought during the 
Revolutionary War, when calico was a dollar and a quar- 
ter a yard. 
Of course among the Japanese and Chinese articles 
were many specimens of porcelain, some of them of rarity 
and great beauty. There were also several pieces of the 
old China of Sevres and Dresden, and just enough ex- 
amples of Palissy ware to make one desire all the more a 
permanent collection of the precious works of the ceramic 
art. There were a few specimens beside these of the sta- 
ples of Art museums, — ancient carvings, bronzes, stained 
glass, Venetian glass, Gobelin tapestry, armor, — and some 
which were also dignified by association with memorable 
people. There was china from the once celebrated stores 
of Fonthill Abbey; a miniature of Mary Queen of Scots, 
given by herself to one of the Seton family; a portrait of 
Napoleon, which he gave to one of his aids; a bronze of 
the same beautiful head, once belonging to Joseph Bona- 
parte ; the dagger of Robert Bruce ; a black jack used by 
Sir Walter Raleigh; a fan painted by Guido; a bronze 
vase that had been owned successively by Lord Chatham 
and Sir John Temple ; a candle that used to light Anne 
Hathaway, and which must be held precious, whatever 
may be thought of Mistress Shakespeare’s character, for 
it doubtless shone also upon her more than royal lover. 
Interesting in a very different way were some relics of 
Sir John Franklin’s expedition, found on King William’s 
Land in 1859 by Captain McClintock ; — and, finally, 
there were two “ lots ” exhibited, valuable from association 
with two people whose least memento is to be prized, but 
really precious as an expression of their sympathy with 
the cause that originated this Fair. The first was a col- 
lection of autographs of living Frenchmen, and among 
them a sketch of an old house with a writing attached, 
of which this is a translation : — 78 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
“ In 1836 I happened to be one day at Passy, at the house of M. Ray- 
nouard, the author of the tragedy Les Templiers. lie wore his white 
hair streaming on his shoulders, and I said to him, — 
“‘You wear your hair as Franklin used, and you look like him.’ 
“ He said to me, smiling, ‘ This may come from the neighborhood; ’ 
and he pointed to a house that could be seen from his garden. ‘ It is 
there,’ said he to me, ‘that Franklin lived in 1778/ 
“ 1 drew that house, now pulled down. This is the sketch. I believe 
that this picture of the house of Franklin, at Passy, is the only one in 
existence. I offer it to the United States Sanitary Commission. 
“ I am happy that the Sanitary Commission have done me the honor 
to call upon me, and afford me an opportunity to renew the expression 
of my heartfelt sympathy for the gallant men who are struggling so glo- 
riously to rid the great American Republic of that sinful system, Slavery. 
“VICTOR HUGO. 
“ Hauteville House, \hth March, 1864.” 
The other lot consisted of three copies of Florence 
Nightingale’s treatise upon nursing, and inscribed in each 
one, in her own handwriting, was the dedication — 
“ Of all sick and suffering the faithful servant, 
“ Florence Nightingale. 
“ From her sick bed, London, March, 18G4.” 
These gifts, coming at a time when the sympathy of 
transatlantic friends was looked for sometimes in vain, 
had a peculiar flavor of kindness about them that made 
them keenly felt. Not that there were not others who 
spoke and acted as kindly as these two, but there was so 
much that came to us sounding so very differently, that 
we learned to count our friends, and held their good 
words above price; and when these were alike kind 
and felicitous, our pleasure was something which it is 
still delightful to remember. 
The Curiosity Shop had one little but mighty aid that 
cannot be overlooked in this review, — a miniature model 
of the Burden Horse-shoe machine, — which turned out 
tiny horse-shoes at the rate of about sixty a minute. 
These were then nicely gilded, and strung, in clusters 
of three, upon ribbons of red, white, and blue; and these UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
79 
little bunches were then sold at five cents each. Myste- 
rious are the laws of popularity ; but however it may 
have been, these little ornaments, souvenirs, whatever you 
choose to call them, struck the public fancy, and realized 
for the Fair no less a sum than $2,775. 
There was also in one of the rooms, under the superin- 
tendence of the ladies of the Curiosity Shop, a collection 
of minerals, metals, and fossils. This contained many rare 
and beautiful specimens, but did not, of course, aspire to 
the rank of a scientific museum. With great good judg- 
ment its prominent feature was made of small assorted 
collections, numbering from twenty-five to one hundred 
examples of characteristic rocks and minerals, intended 
as foundations for boys’ cabinets. These met with ready 
sale, and this sensible enterprise produced for the general 
treasury more than one thousand dollars,— $1,075.25. 
The net receipts of the Curiosity Shop were $10,647.05. 
There were a number of interesting autographs in the 
Curiosity Shop, but the autograph department proper was 
in the Art Gallery. The wares of that table are so tempt- 
ing to our memory, that we take advantage of the sugges- 
tion given by the last item of the treasures in the Curios- 
ity Shop, to turn out of our course, and pay an irregular 
visit to the Picture Room. The collection of autographs 
was one of the best, perhaps the very best, ever offered for 
sale in America. Among autograph hunters, as well as 
among bibliomaniacs, the price of the article sought does 
not depend wdiolly upon the greatness of the author, nor 
yet upon his antiquity, or the rarity of his work. To 
attain that height of value which makes a book or an 
autograph to be hunted and hoarded, and sold only at 
fabulous prices, it is necessary that the book or signa- 
ture have an added quality which it is hard to define,— 
it must be in a technical sense rechercM. To appreciate 
the value of such things is so purely a matter of con- 
noisseurship, that he must be an expert who would judge 80 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
critically of this collection. But to the general public 
any memento of a person or era that has engaged its 
attention is grateful, and the question of technical value 
is one to which it is utterly indifferent. Specimens of 
the costume, or table-services of our great-grandmoth- 
ers, are not rare in well-regulated families, but every- 
body is interested in them for all that. Therefore, 
in our sketch of the Curiosity Shop, we gave as much 
prominence to these things as to the Palissy ware, which 
is by no means common in America. So in the slight 
mention we can make of the autographs at the Fair, we 
shall mention those which we suppose must have been in- 
teresting to all people of average cultivation. Doubtless 
in so doing we shall mention many of those which would 
be also valuable in the eyes of the collector; and it is 
quite as certain that we shall omit many that to the con- 
tributors were the most precious offered. For there were 
some people who, in their kind zeal for the cause of the 
wounded soldier, sent autographs that were precious to 
them not only as relics, but as mementos of loved and 
venerated names. As an example of this spirit of sacri- 
fice we quote part of a letter from Hon. George P. Marsh, 
accompanying a splendid gift of autographs and holo- 
graphs. It serves to show the sort of spirit that actu- 
ated many contributors. 
“ This collection contains many letters of great historical and private 
interest, and has been formed at a very considerable pecuniary cost. 
“ Some of them, that of Garibaldi for instance — I part with it not 
without sorrow — ought to be handsomely framed and glazed, and I shall 
be grievously disappointed if they do not bring in a very handsome sum. 
As to Garibaldi, Manzoni, and Ricasoli, to Mrs. Marsh, they ought to be 
sold separately. 
“ The more I think of it, the more I grieve to part with Garibaldi’s. 
If I had a hundred dollars, I would send it to buy it back with. He is 
the hero and saint of our age. Ten golden eagles should be the lowest 
bid for this golden letter. Manzoni’s (from Avezzana,) would bring 
almost as much in England, and Ricasoli’s is a treasure. For their 
splendid gifts, I must ask a special acknowledgment from the Commis- 
sion to Dr. Achille Migliavacca and Countess Gigliucci.” UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
81 
After this letter one cannot do better than show of 
what nature was the gift of the writer. In the first 
place there was a small collection of royal and princely 
signatures, containing, among others, two of Louis XIV. 
— one a letter, — two of Louis XVI., one of Louis Phi- 
lippe d’Orleans, (Egalite,) and one of George III. of Eng- 
land. There was quite a number of the Bonaparte family 
set apart by themselves frotn contact with the “born prin- 
ces,”— not venturing to mix with the glory of Bourbon 
and Hanover,-—and appendant to these, some of the Mar- 
shals and Generals of the Empire. Between Bourbon 
and Bonaparte came naturally the names that were 
prominent during the first French revolution and the 
Republic, including, among others almost equally well 
known if not equally terrible, that of Robespierre. Then 
there were some illustrious Italians and Frenchmen, and 
a few Englishmen, represented. Among the last was a 
letter from Lord Brougham, written in that character- 
istic hand so often referred to by those who say that 
penmanship is an index to the mind of the writer. The 
contribution of the Count and Countess Gigliucci, was 
of holograph letters, including some from Charles Dickens, 
Sir Joseph Paxton, Baron Ricasoli, Vincenzo, Gioberti, 
Meyerbeer, Rossini, and one from Count Nesselrode to 
Miss Clara Novello, inclosing a rose. Those from Dr. 
Achille Migliavacca were nearly all royal letters, of 
modern royalty for the most part, but not entirely. 
There was a letter from the great Andrea Doria to Ales- 
sandro Bentivoglio, Governor of Milan, dated May 21, 
1531 ; one from the Emperor Charles V. to Francisco 
Sforza, Duke of Milan, dated October 26, 1534; from 
Philip IV. of Spain, to Luis de Guzman Ponce de Leon, 
dated April 20, 1665, the last year of his unfortunate 
reign. All these with seals ; and one of greater antiquity 
than any of these, and from a man as remarkable, though 
unenviably so, as any of the others—Louis XI. of France. 82 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
When one came to look over the other autographic 
gifts, one found the familiar English and American names 
at once assumed a preponderance. The contributions 
from Germany cannot, however, be passed over. There 
were half a dozen or more long letters of Humboldt, one 
to Ary Scheffer, with the autograph of the latter; letters 
of Goethe, Schiller, Schelling, Niebuhr, Encke, Hegel, 
Frederick the Great, and of his graceless father, Frederick 
William; the first draft of a poem by Goethe, full of eras- 
ures and interlineations, and looking so that one wondered 
if the poet himself was ever able to decipher it — we 
doubt if any one who saw it here ever made out what 
poem it was; letters from Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Yon 
Weber, Meyerbeer, Rossini, and Verdi; a book from Ber- 
lin, wherein many of the illustrious of to-day in Germany 
had inscribed their names, often at the foot of a page, 
expressing their kindly feelings to the young Republic, 
and their good wishes for her in her then time of trouble; 
and a list that cannot be enumerated, of authors, art- 
ists, philosophers, statesmen, and warriors of the gener- 
ous German land. We should not omit to mention the 
autographs of King Christian IX., and Queen Louisa, of 
Denmark, written for the Fair ; that of the Queen, at 
least, being unsolicited, and the result of her own kind 
interest. There were other royal autographs written for 
the Fair, but we instance these two because at that time 
the Schleswig-Holstein troubles were at their height, 
and were supposed to be in themselves sufficiently en- 
grossing for their majesties of Denmark. 
To speak of the English autographs in the order of 
precedence, — at least for a little way, — one should say 
that the royal family, from George II. down, was very 
plentifully represented by its heads. There were about a 
dozen each of George III. and George IV., half as many 
of William IV. and Victoria, After mentioning these, as 
we are uncertain just where the Archbishops of York and UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
83 
Canterbury should come in, we will drop the order of 
precedence, and, considering that our hint sufficiently in- 
dicates the two prelates,—those at present of that dignity, 
— will give the rest as they happen to come. There was 
every premier since Canning, and no end of cabinet 
ministers and political noblemen. And when it came to 
literary men, there were Thackeray, Tennyson, Charles 
Reade, Charles Kingsley, the Brownings, Hallam, Samuel 
Rogers, Wordsworth, and three who were extemporized 
into a triad by the old lady watching a conflagration — 
“Dickens, Howitt Burns.” Some of these were repre- 
sented by very interesting personal letters; Burns by 
two or three unpublished poems — one of which would 
not bear publication. Among the letters were several 
to Washington Irving, that had a charm quite peculiar, 
as bearing upon the literary and personal relations of 
men of letters in the earlier half of this century. There 
were holographs from Allan Cunningham, G. P. R. James, 
Charles Leslie, Samuel Rogers, Thomas Moore, Sir Walter 
Scott, Thomas Campbell, Sir Robert Peel, William H. 
Prescott. Those from Moore and Campbell were very 
characteristic. That from Prescott — originally accom- 
panying the gift of his “ Conquest of Mexico ” — had 
also the value of great rarity, Mr. Prescott’s eyesight 
being a bar upon correspondence ; while one of those 
from Sir Walter Scott to Irving was probably the gem of 
the collection. This spoke of a review of the “Sketch 
Book” in “Blackwood,” of Lockhart’s approaching mar- 
riage, and of other personal topics, and was strongly per- 
vaded by the fine humor of the writer. It was written 
in 1800. Then there were letters from Lord Macaulay 
to Mr. Everett. A curious one of Beau Brummell, writ- 
ten after his exile, describing the passage across the 
Channel of a monkey which he had purchased for a 
lady of quality, and an interesting one from Count 
D’Orsay, relative* to a proposed statue of Washington, 84 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
accompanied by one from N. P. Willis, of recollections 
of the attractive artist dandy. The Count’s letter, it 
must be confessed, does little credit to his knowledge 
of the English language, but perhaps one ought not to 
expect a Frenchman to be any more certain about his 
uses of shall and will, than an Irishman. And now that 
we come to mingle Frenchmen with our Englishmen, it 
may be added there was also a love-letter of Lafayette, 
which we need not say was studied with interest by all 
who saw it. We take occasion, while speaking of English 
autographs, to mention one given by Dr. Migliavacca, 
which we overlooked in its more regular place. It was 
no less than a letter from King Henry VII., of England, 
to Giovanni Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, and 
was, as far as we know, the only royal English autograph 
of any claims to antiquity. 
In addition to these English letters and autographs of 
purely literary and historic value, there were some which 
were sent in the spirit of that one of Victor Hugo, which 
was copied a little way back. Lord Houghton, Thomas 
Hughes, John Bright, Cobden, all sent kind, earnest, sym- 
pathizing words. The two former also sent contributions 
for the “Spirit of the Fair.” Having spoken of these 
men we have only now to mention some of the American 
autographs, and then leave our already crowded page 
until it shall commence the story of the morrow,—Sat- 
urday, April 9th. 
There were three of George Washington, and of each 
of the succeeding Presidents there were a respectable 
number. So of the fathers of the Republic. Of Colonial 
governors and worthies there were some that have be- 
come as rare as those that have survived the vicissitudes 
of twice as many centuries. This is probably owing to 
the avidity with which our collectors catch at every thing 
that relates to our own history, and, of course, partly to 
a variety of other causes. But it is chiefly the given UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION 
85 
reason which has obtained, making, for example, the sig- 
natures of Washington rare, while that of George III. is 
comparatively easy to be had. There were nearly four 
times as many of the latter as of the former at the Fair, 
notwithstanding the fact that there must be a vastly 
greater number of Washington’s autographs in the United 
States than of George Third’s. But at present it is not 
so much with the rarity of autographs that we have to 
do; it is their interest that we chiefly regard ; and in 
thinking over these American worthies, it is only an em- 
barrassment of choice. They were all of value to some 
portion of their countrymen, and of those whose fame is 
of twenty years’ standing, it is hard to say who was not 
a subject of interest or curiosity to the people at large. 
There were officers of the Revolution, of the War of 
1812, and of the Rebellion — the latter in great force. 
There were Chief Justices Story and Marshall, Chancel- 
lor Kent, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton; many letters of 
Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and Edward Everett; an 
important historical letter of John Hancock, with three 
signatures in full; an equally important order from Con- 
gress to General Schuyler, dated at Montreal, 1776, and 
signed by Benjamin Franklin, Charles Carroll, of Car- 
rollton, and Samuel Chase. There was a letter from 
Robert Fulton, whose signature has become very rare, 
accompanied by a copy of the “Evening Post” of 1807, 
containing an advertisement of the steamboat running be- 
tween New York and Albany. There were manuscripts 
of Irving and Cooper, of Poe and Hawthorne, and letters 
and autographs of Percival and John Howard Payne ; and 
of that band of writers who have lived to see their books 
stand as classics on our shelves, Bryant, Longfellow, Low- 
ell, Whittier, Holmes, Bancroft, Motley, there was a full 
representation. One of Whittier was accompanied with 
the signature of Barbara Frietchie, the heroine of his 
stirring poem. Then there was the crowd of lesser 86 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
names, though not all who had escaped mention here 
belong to that humbler host; but no collection that is 
intended for popular patronage can well be without some 
of those middle luminaries that can be sold cheap, and 
who will shine alike in the albums and in the admiring 
fancies of the people who never saw a live author. These 
people were well remembered. 
The pecuniary success of the Autograph Table, as in 
the case of geniuses who anticipate their age, and of 
many things too choicely excellent, was somewhat out 
of proportion to the pleasure it afforded. Still its gains 
were not inconsiderable, owing to the rare tact that pre- 
sided over its sales, and moreover that the autographs 
it afterwards contributed to the St. Louis and Philadel- 
phia Fairs added largely to the attraction and receipts of 
those bazaars. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 9. 
The impatient public had not jet learned to heed the 
advice of the journals as to the futility of blockading the 
doors two hours before they could be opened. Notwith- 
standing that Friday had witnessed the return to the one- 
dollar admission, that morning found the crowd gathering 
just as early as if it were only fifty-cent Thursday, and 
waiting in just as visible impatience. One thing, however, 
was gained : the throng of Friday, though quite as 
eager, was not as dense as that of the day before, and 
was less of an obstruction to comfort and to sales. As 
to receipts, it was announced in one of the journals that 
at three o’clock of yesterday, the whole earnings of the 
Fair amounted to more than half a million of dollars. 
The first week was not yet over, and the Fair had already 
realized as much as at the outset, we might more truth- 
fully say, as much as at its inception had been expected 
from the proposed fortnight’s exhibition. Among the 
gifts chronicled this morning, was a work entitled “Auto* UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
87 
graph Leaves of our Country’s Authors,” the copyright 
of which had been secured for the benefit of the Sanitary 
Commission. The book consisted of lithographic fac-sim- 
iles of some manuscript of each of ninety of our authors. 
It opened with the “ Star Spangled Banner,” in the hand- 
writing and with the signature of Key, and closed with 
“ Home, Sweet Home,” subscribed by the name of John 
Howard Payne. Representing so many of our literary 
men, the book was, of course, of very catholic range. 
That only gave it a wider interest, and the most exacting 
purist could not look with indifference upon a volume 
where he could compare the manuscripts of such men as 
Irving, Cooper, Prescott, Everett, Percival, Poe, Allston, 
Channing, Hawthorne, Emerson, Bryant, Willis, Mrs. 
Stowe, Bancroft, Motley, Longfellow, Holmes, and Whit- 
tier. In truth it was a gift to the Commission of still 
present value. It is not long ago that we saw this same 
book an object of fresh attention to a circle of elegant 
and cultivated people, and we doubt not that it will 
continue to gain such attention as long as we care for 
such men as are named above. 
The tableaux of the previous afternoon in the Children’s 
Department, an entertainment given on Thursday even- 
ing by the pupils of the Seventeenth Ward Schools, and 
which resulted in $1,200 for the Commission, are the 
“side-shows” recorded. 
The Sword Vote was this morning for the first time 
dignified by the name of the “ Sword Contest,” — a name 
which clung to it during the continuance of the Fair. 
The vote, which was scarcely so heavy as that of Thurs- 
day, stood at closing, on Friday evening, General Mc- 
Clellan, 1,740; General Grant, 1,398; total, 3,138; Gen- 
eral McClellan’s majority, 342. As to the Navy Sword, 
there is some error in the report of this day, since Ad- 
miral Farragut is represented as having three votes less 
than at the close of the preceding day, while Commodore 88 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
Rowan shows an advance of one vote. The total number 
of votes cast, however, is put at 223, just twenty-eight 
ahead of Thursday’s sum. We will leave this account to 
straighten itself on another day. 
Resuming our description of the gallery at the point 
where we left it yesterday, we must begin with the Mil- 
linery Room, which was next to the Curiosity Shop. This 
was attractive enough to the ladies, though its glories 
were hardly comprehensible to the masculine eye. But 
there was one thing about the room which could be appre- 
ciated by the most ignorant of the coarser sex, even by 
the inveterate hater of bonnets, — and that was the 
energy, the tact, that presided over their sale. Later in 
the Fair, these wonders of silk, velvet and lace, were 
removed to the main floor of the building for a better 
chance of exhibition than they had enjoyed in the gallery. 
But the success of the department was assured before this, 
and it returned to the general treasury $4,181.81. 
The next room was popularly called the Library, and 
was one of the pleasantest divisions of the Fair. A 
carpeted room, nicely lighted, uninvaded by the crowd 
and bustle, it presented an air of learned calm that was 
very attractive. There were shelves along the sides of 
the room, and a table in the centre whereon were dis- 
played the richer volumes — treasures of tinted paper, 
with broad margins and spaces, and library bindings, full 
morocco and calf. Books had been liberally given by 
the publishers of New York, and by some of those of 
Boston; gentlemen gave from their libraries some rare 
and curious volumes, and several authors contributed 
copies of their own writings. We mentioned but just 
now a work that was published for the benefit of the 
Sanitary Commission. In the Book-Room of the Fair 
were several such to be found. There was “ A Sheaf of 
Verse for the Fair,” by Mr. H. T. Tuckerman; a graceful 
collection of vers de societe, entitled “ Tribute to the Fair,” UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
89 
by Mr. Peter Marie ; “ Washington ancl Napoleon,” an 
historic parallel, by Dr. Lieber ; “ Philanthropic Results of 
the War in America,” by Mr. Marcellus Hartley ; “ Taps,” 
an elegantly printed little book with illustrations, by Mr. 
C. A. Clinton; a “ Memoir of Lieutenant Edward Lewis 
Mitchell, who fell at the Battle of Shiloh,” and “ Chron- 
icles of Yonkers in verse.” Whole editions of all these, 
whether large or small, were given, in some cases by the 
author alone, in others by the author and publisher, and 
in one case of an unusually large edition by author, pub- 
lisher, and binder. We should not forget another book 
which had a great success at the Fair, and which was not 
only published for this cause, but was composed of hits 
at the various topics of the hour — a professed nonsense 
book, that was intended only to stimulate a laugh and 
then it might pass away as having done its work. This 
was the u Book of Bubbles,” by F. W. Gerard; and has 
now another value from that which induced people to 
buy it when it was new. It is interesting to look at 
such a book when the events which supplied its humors 
are only dimly remembered, because it becomes a sort of 
history. This one shows us what people were thinking 
of as well as laughing at in 1864; what were the polit- 
ical questions, the fashionable occupations, the mode of 
dressing the hair—all perennial subjects for satire; and 
1864, when the nation was yet at war, seems so far away 
from to-day that we look back already as to a great 
historical period, and are glad to review the humors of 
that time. 
Aside from these complete and unreserved gifts, these 
holocausts of literary devotion, the shelves were filled 
after the manner of popular booksellers, with every thing 
that the public demands. The headings of the catalogue 
that was published by this department show how wide 
was the range of that demand. History, Biography, Voy- 
ages and Travels, General Literature, Poetry, Fiction, 90 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
Law and Politics, Science and Useful Arts, Medical, etc., 
Theology and Religion, Illustrated Books and Works of 
Art, Publications of United States Government, Military 
and Naval Books, Foreign Books. Such are the headings; 
and when it is considered that all our best publishers 
contributed their best editions of classic and popular 
works, the character of the collection will be easily un- 
derstood. Among those things which are not usually 
found in bookstores were several entire series of our 
State Papers, including the State Papers and Public 
Documents from the accession of Washington to the year 
1807, wdth all the confidential State Papers ; the earliest 
journals of Congress; the Harleian Miscellany, with some 
rare and curious old books, treasures for bibliophiles, and 
which, it is to be trusted, made their w7ay into careful 
and appreciative hands. 
One found it hard to leave the Library without any 
remembrancer of the beautiful books that were such a 
delight to the eyes of lingerers in this quiet room. We 
have intimated that it possessed rather the character of 
a library than a book-shop; there were so many works 
that had come from collectors rather than from publish- 
ers; there were so many of those treasured books of art, 
that are seldom found in the sales-room, and never in 
numbers where they do not seem to have been gathered 
for the pleasure of some art lover, rather than for the 
quickest possible dispersion, that one was tempted to 
believe that some gentleman’s sanctum had floated away 
from its moorings, and been stranded upon a strange and 
busy coast. The effect of peculiar ownership was height- 
ened by the various adornments that found their way 
into this room — photographs, illuminations, pictures, 
bronzes. One of these appeals to our remembrance so 
strongly that we must recall it here. It was a bronze 
group from the hands of Mene, and sent with other offer- 
ings from Paris, in sympathy with the sick and wounded UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
91 
of our war. There was a horse, a noble animal, standing 
with muscles relaxed, head drooping, exhausted by the 
excitement of the chase just finished. Beside him a 
huntsman holding up the trophy, a dead fox, and several 
hounds about him eager, watchful, fawning,—the excite- 
ment not yet having died out of them or of the man- 
There are those, doubtless, who will remember this 
bronze, and others which were scattered through the 
Fair, the works of some of the most skillful hands in 
Europe. Many such things which cannot be recalled 
severally went far to make the Fair what it was — the 
greatest display of industrial and artistic triumphs that 
New York has seen since the World’s Fair in 1853. 
The receipts of the Book-Room, over and above all 
expenses, are represented by the rather pleasantly mono- 
tonous looking figures, $12,222.22. 
Next to the Library was a room, the designated depos- 
itory of architectural ornaments. This department was 
formed with a view of collecting contributions from stone- 
cutters, glass-stainers, turners, and other branches of 
trade connected with architectural decoration. The room 
had been painted in fresco in order to render it more 
attractive, — the painting being a contribution of two 
patriotic frescoers, — and was filled with specimens of 
the several tributary crafts. There were vases and fonts 
of granite, freestone and marble, some of them richly 
wrought; examples of painted, stained, and enamelled 
glass, beautiful wood carvings, iron-work, and many gifts 
from collectors illustrating antique decorative art. The 
crowning glory of the room was in four large pieces of 
tapestry representing scenes from Don Quixote, which 
were invested with all the interest of a romantic history. 
Only the barest outline of that history was made public; 
the tapestries were several hundred years old, and had 
been given by some king of Spain to a noble family in 
Mexico. The noble family, by a fortune not quite un- 92 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
precedented, found its purse grow slimmer as its name 
grew older, and actuated by very lofty sentiments, it 
parted with these relics of grandeur to an American 
gentleman — of course for a consideration. This out- 
line can perhaps be as well filled out by each individ- 
ual for himself as by a romancing historian; doubtless 
details were added by many enthusiastic gazers that 
were quite as good as the real ones. At all events, the 
chief point about the tapestries was quite independent of 
story; their antiquity, their workmanship, their rarity, 
made them intrinsically interesting; and the reverence 
of cultivated Americans for all art that has been hal- 
lowed by time, brought them great numbers of gazers. 
This department returned to the general treasury 
$10,072.89. The next door to it was a room devoted 
to the Ladies’ Executive Committee, where, as might be 
expected, many important consultations were held. But 
as the public had only to do with the results of such 
deliberations, it left out this room in its survey of the 
gallery and descended by the stairs just beyond to the 
main floor of the building. 
And here just at the door of the Art Gallery we will 
leave the Fair for this week. We have had to chronicle 
an increasing enthusiasm on the part of the public for the 
great exhibition, a crowd that could not be kept away, 
and a pecuniary success that surpassed expectation. Ev- 
erybody had some interest in this object of the popular 
attention ; ladies had opened their drawing-rooms for 
private concerts, tableaux, charades, plays, all for the 
benefit of the Fair ; schools had given like entertain- 
ments for the general public ; the theatres had for the 
most part anticipated the opening of the Fair in their 
contributions ; and all had flocked to the new buildings 
in Fourteenth Street and Union Square, to gaze upon 
the treasures of art or antiquity there collected, to min- 
gle in the picturesque and novel scene, to buy with UNITED STATES. SANITARY COMMISSION. 
93 
motives part selfish but chiefly charitable, and to over- 
throng the daily exhibitions in the Children’s and In- 
dian Departments. So far all had been well. Tis true 
that some errors had been discovered in the arrange- 
ments made here and there; that envious and malig- 
nant and careless tongues were, as they always are, ready 
to find flaws, to asperse motives, even to make or 
repeat venomous stories; but such things were to be 
looked for, and the latter one at least was probably 
held to be of slight consequence even at the time. The 
former was unavoidable, and with true philosophy the 
managers of the Fair did their best to straighten such 
difficulties as were still at all in their power, and patient- 
ly learned the lesson of those that were beyond mending. 
We have said, or at least intimated, that the ladies of 
Philadelphia who held the “ Great Central Fair ” in the 
ensuing June, profited by the experience of the New 
York ladies. A committee came from the former city to 
inquire into the ways and means of the New York mana- 
gers, and to learn what to follow and what to avoid. 
For once experience taught something to others than 
the sufferer, and even the mistakes of the Metropolitan 
Fair served to help fill the coffers of the Sanitary Com- 
mission at a later day. 
One sad event must close our account of this week. 
It will be remembered, without our mention, by the ladies 
of the Arms and Trophies Room, that on Wednesday, 
April 6th, they missed from their number one of their 
most active workers; one whose cheerful zeal, whose 
generosity and thoughtful gentleness had been to them a 
very present aid. We scarcely need say that we refer to 
Mrs. Caroline M. Kirkland, for a wide circle of friends has 
not yet forgotten the graces and the sudden loss of that 
strong and lovely character. “ She was greater than her 
books, or than any book,” it was said at this time, and it 
was a feeling of affectionate reverence of regret, softened 94 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
by hope, that followed her to her last home, and mingled 
even with the crowding duties of this busy week. 
It is not without interest that we recall that the last 
acts of a life so benignant, were connected with a charity 
so dear to Mrs. Kirkland as this Fair. She was in the 
Arms and Trophies Room Tuesday night, cheerful and 
busy as ever, and the opening hour of Wednesday brought 
the news of her death. 
SECOND WEEK. 
MONDAY, APRIL 11. 
The journals of this morning had, nearly all of them, 
some review of the results of the first week of the Fair. 
The attendance was estimated at from one hundred and 
/ 
twenty thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand visit- 
ors. The receipts, from half a million to six hundred 
thousand dollars. The highest praise was accorded by 
most of the newspapers to the perfection of the arrange- 
ments, to the value and magnificence of the display, and 
to the order maintained. One paper finishes its survey in 
these words : “ And all have been also pleased and grati- 
fied at its great success. Nothing unpleasant in the 
slightest degree has occurred. The general distribution 
of stands to different parties was made with care, and so 
as to add to the beauty of the building. The arrange- 
ment for the sale and taking of tickets is perfect, and has 
prevented all confusion. The precautions against fire are 
complete, and remove all apprehensions, and the jDolice 
arrangements are so thorough that not a theft has oc- 
curred.” That is certainly warm praise, and shows at 
least that the esoteric difficulties to which we have 
alluded did not have much effect upon the enjoyment 
of visitors to the Fair. 
Some general features of the great show7 are noticed, 
which would scarcely call for mention in the descrip- UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
95 
tion of a given department, but which, taken together, 
attracted some attention in their day. Almost every 
stand had, by the end of the first week, come to add to its 
allurements a little receptacle for modest contributions, 
— widows’ mites, Peter pence, and the like, — where 
charity, whose visible reward was only a smile from the 
guardian of the alms-box, might gratify itself. These 
“ man-traps,” as they were sometimes profanely called, 
were generally disguised. In one place it was a tiny old 
woman knitting stockings by a rustic table, writh a basket 
by her side. Underneath wrould be inscribed a legend to 
the effect that the old lady was working hard for the poor 
soldiers, but, toil as she might, she could not accomplish 
all that she wished, and so she would thank any one who 
would help her in her single object. The observer was 
then notified that the use of the basket Avas to hold 
money contributions toward this mutely zealous old 
lady’s gift. Sometimes the figure of a wounded Zouave, 
or a soldier’s widow, attracted one’s gaze, and then the 
figure turned out to be an appeal to one’s sympathy for 
the object represented. Some of these devices proffered 
their request very successfully. One in the Floral Tem- 
ple, representing a soldier’s home, was found at the close 
of the Fair to have accumulated no less than seven hun- 
dred dollars. 
The several stands throughout the buildings seemed 
to show no emptiness after the week’s drain upon their 
treasures. New goods were still arriving, and there had 
been from the beginning a reserve stock large enough to 
keep the display fresh and full for some time to come. 
It was evident that the Fair was only in its prime at the 
opening of the second week, and, accordingly, we find 
that its managers were now renewing their promises to 
the public. In the Fourteenth Street building Graftil- 
la’s Band had given a nightly concert, which was now ad- 
vertised to be repeated every night until further notice. 96 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
The concerts in the Union Square Music Hall, and the 
afternoon performances for children, were also to be con- 
tinued. On Saturday evening the Oratorio of “Judas 
Maccabaeus ” had been successfully given before a large 
audience, and for Monday evening a promenade concert 
and “ performance ” by the children of the Tenth Ward 
schools was announced. The price of admission was to 
be kept at one dollar. 
The “ sword contest ” is just beginning to assume that 
prominence which it held during the latter days of the 
Fair. At first, people had calmly registered their names, 
and paid their single dollar for the privilege. But we 
read that before the close of the week they were register- 
ing themselves for five and ten votes each, and in a few 
cases as high as fifty. These were, of course, only the 
easily kindled; phlegmatic people still put down their 
dollar, and, justly enough, deemed that they had done 
their duty. When the polls were closed on Saturday 
night, the vote stood, — General McCllelan, 2,312, General 
Grant, 1,880. General McClellan’s majority, 432 votes. 
As to the navy sword, the count as given is, of 224 votes 
Admiral Farragut had 119, Commodore Rowan, 63, Admi- 
ral Dupont, 20, and the rest scattering. It was so evi- 
dent by this time that the army sword had established 
itself as the engrossing bone of contention, that we find 
no further mention of the navy sword in the daily papers, 
until the final announcement on the day after the close of 
the Fair. 
We may now leave the newspapers of Monday, after 
taking from them one more item. We have already said, 
many times over, that everybody — that is, all classes and 
all employments — contributed to the Fair. It is made 
evident from the item we just now referred to, that peo- 
ple, as may be often observed in the history of enthusi- 
asms, were already become aggressive in their interest; 
they were not contented with being liberal and absorbed UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
97 
themselves, but they demanded that everybody should be 
as they were. Aceordiugdy, we find in the papers of this 
morning, a note from the postmaster of the city, replying 
to the inquiries of officious Paul Prys, as to the contribu- 
tions of post-office clerks. The note stated a fact that 
must have been painful to the young men of the post- 
office, viz.: that their salaries were small; but added for 
the benefit of the curious, that despite this drawback, 
they had contributed seven hundred dollars to the pop- 
ular charity. About this time the hotels, too, had to be 
defended against the aspersions of those who had not 
heard of their generosity, and the public were gratified 
to learn that not only had money been given from these 
sources, but the chefs of their cuisines had given their skill, 
and had contributed various marvels of their art. We 
trust that these pieces of information were satisfactory to 
those who had demanded them. 
Our Saturday visit to the Fair ended in the passage 
leading to the Picture Gallery. Commencing where we 
left off, then, we find that we have enough to engage us 
for this day. This exhibition of pictures was one that 
we have reason long to remember. It was not only a col- 
lection of peculiar value in itself, but it marked an epoch 
in the art history of this country. We find artists and 
critics in 1866 recognizing, even more fully than in 1864, 
the importance of the Sanitary Fair Art Gallery, and we 
doubt not that future years will develop yet more indubi- 
tably that importance. Why this is so, will be so easily 
seen that we need not devote many words here to setting 
forth the case ; though the plainest history could scarcely 
tell of the Art Gallery without dwelling somewhat upon 
its probable bearing upon American art. 
When the Fair was opened, the little world of picture- 
lovers in New York was charmed and delighted with the 
provision that had been made for its pleasure. There was 
a large, pleasant room, high and well lighted, and filled 98 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
with works bearing, for the most part, the most honored 
names in American art. Everybody admitted that the 
pictures were generally well hung, unusually well hung, if 
we are not mistaken, and the only drawback to seeing 
them well, was the crowd that constantly filled the Gal- 
lery, and made it impossible to see any painting on the 
line at a greater distance from it than six feet. That, 
however, is a drawback very easily borne in an exhibi- 
tion from which any pecuniary return is expected, and 
in this, at least, it was one which the public accepted 
without a murmur. People were glad of a chance to 
see so many pictures, whose fame had become historic, 
brought out and exhibited side by side with others 
equally famous or now first shown. Thus, for example, 
Church’s “Niagara,” and “Heart of the Andes” which the 
public had never seen save alone, and set off with sur- 
roundings of skillfully hung draperies, were now for the 
first time brought into proximity and contrast to the 
works of other artists. The “Heart of the Andes” was 
set just opposite Bierstadt’s “Rocky Mountains,” and, as 
both pictures had been before shown under precisely simi- 
lar circumstances, they were studied with a great deal of 
curiosity in their relations with each other. The “ Niag- 
ara” could now be compared with the “Niagaras” of Ken- 
sett and Gignoux. And with these were gathered from 
all manner of sources the best known works of many 
artists. Especially was the collection rich in pictures 
that had for years lurked in the seclusion of drawing- 
rooms and private galleries. Pictures by Huntington, 
Leutze, Durand, that far back in the twilight of our his- 
tory had been engraved for the American Art Union; 
pictures that had been famous before artists now in full 
repute had ever been heard of; and yet more venerable 
than these, were some works of Cole, Stuart, West. When 
one remembers that such a varied collection of American 
art was supplemented by an almost equally varied one of UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
99 
modern European pictures, comprising examples of artists 
so diverse as Achenbach, Gerome, De la Roche, Meissonier, 
Willems, Troyon, Winterhalter, E. Frere, Gallait, Brion, 
Verboeckhoven, Moritz, Retzsch, Karl Hiibner, Couture, 
and Plassan, we can understand the eagerness of delight 
with which the public flocked to the pleasant Gallery. 
We should add too that, in addition to such contents as 
we have indicated, there was a numerous collection of 
pictures with frames inscribed “Pro Patria,” the gifts of the 
patriotic brotherhood of artists — many of them painted 
expressly for the Fair; so that with new and old, foreign, 
home, and charitable art, the public was complacently 
sure that it had unusual grounds for being pleased. It 
wras granted on every side that there never had been 
such an opportunity for studying American art in its 
present condition, in its advance upon its past efforts, and 
in its relations to modern European work. The result of 
their comparison was so satisfactory to most .observers, 
that one constantly heard the most hopeful auguries re- 
specting our artistic future, and the assertion often made 
before, now came to be commonly believed, that in land- 
scape painting, at least, our National Academicians were 
in advance of all Europe, to say nothing of the rest of 
the world. 
The American public had, during its previous existence, 
been accustomed to think humbly of its msthetical attain- 
ments. But now, just as it began to feel the comforts of 
self-satisfaction, the charge of artistic worthlessness was 
preferred with a vehemence and license peculiarly irritat- 
ing to the newly found content. In former times, when 
we were humble, nobody had insulted our weakness; 
but it was very hard when we had at last come to have 
some pride in our attainments, that the most honored 
among our Academicians should be assaulted in words that 
would once have seemed harsh when applied to the weak- 
est. To speak a little more in detail. On Saturday of 100 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
the first week of the Fair, one of the leading city journals 
published a criticism of the works in the iVrt, Gallery, 
which it followed up by similar articles from week to 
week during the continuance of the Fair, and the imme- 
diately following Academy Exhibition. These were evi- 
dently written by some one who had been strongly in- 
fluenced by Ruskin’s “ Modern Painters,” and perhaps it 
might be confessed that the truculence which occasion- 
ally disfigures the master, was even more prominent in 
the disciple. Possibly, however, this seemingly uncalled- 
for savageness, may be still designated as fearlessness; 
it was, doubtless, intended for that in the beginning, and 
was followed out in the face of difficulties with a persist- 
ence that showed it to be no stranger to the nobler qual- 
ity. The Academicians had sufficient support and patron- 
age to make it easy for them to bear a good deal of 
abuse; but there was that in these criticisms which irri- 
tated them beyond measure. The critic might have in- 
formed them that their drawing and their color were not 
the best possible, and still have done it in such manner 
that the painters would have been the first to acknowl- 
edge the truth. But tact and gentleness must have in- 
formed every line of a criticism which should gain such 
an end. And when the critic went beyond drawing and 
color, and said that the Fellows and Associates of the 
Academy were trained in a school of utterly false princi- 
ples, that they painted in hopeless and contented igno- 
rance of nature, and that the art of which we were all so 
proud was dead and a stumbling-block in the way of all 
real excellence, and said these things not only with evi- 
dent ability and force, but with an offensiveness quite in- 
genious, every one understood that such utterances could 
not fail to produce considerable anger among the people 
attacked. To crown all, the critic proposed for the admi- 
ration of the public, a picture by a man unknown to the 
world of picture-buyers, — a personal pupil of the great 101 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
English critic, and whose little canvas had been the ob- 
ject of more unflattering wonder and laughter than any 
other in the exhibition, as well as of much delight. To 
make this the example of what a better training might 
do for the Academicians, seemed to them the unkindest 
cut of all. 
We have said that the hostile criticisms were marked 
by ability and force. This is not the place to discuss 
whether these qualities were rightly directed or not; it 
is sufficient for our purpose to concede to the critic what 
the most aggrieved of the Academicians might allow. 
There was enough of truth mingled with his criticisms 
to make their vigor formidable, and to justify the anger 
excited by his savagery or fearlessness, whichever one 
chooses to call it. The right to be angry was largely 
used by the artists. In the heat of their wrath they em- 
ployed language against the critic quite as hard, to say 
the least of it, as any he had used against them. It was 
said that personal violence threatened, and even immi- 
nently, the obnoxious writer. The genial occupant of 
Harper’s “Easy Chair,” remembers a story that one irate 
N. A. had nearly pulled the wrong nose out of revenge. 
All the while the public, catalogue in hand, was tranquilly 
crowding the beautiful new Gallery, and admiring with 
new transports its old favorites. The artists of the old 
and new schools were agitated by the first shocks of a 
battle that is waged to-day with scarcely abated fury. 
We should hardly care, however, to chronicle this wordy 
warfare even so slightly as we have, did we not believe that 
out of the turmoil will come results important to American 
art, and that the Gallery of the Metropolitan Fair will be 
long remembered for its instrumentality in producing such 
results. Since the opening of hostilities criticism of pict- 
ures in all the journals has become noticeably freer and 
severer. The Academy Exhibition of 1865 called forth 
many criticisms that were much more careful and impar- 102 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
tial, even if they were exacting, than any which appeared 
before 1864. It is not impossible that fastidiousness may 
become a fashion, and that art notices will be “ nothing 
unless they be critical,” in the harder sense of the word. 
Such a state of things must needs have its disagreeable 
side, but American human nature is quick to learn a les- 
son, and adapt itself to new circumstances. Whatever 
pangs it may inflict, there is no doubt that rigorous crit- 
icism has its good effects. It tends to make a public in- 
telligent in its appreciation of art, and, of course, impa- 
tient of careless or bad work. In other words, it increases 
the demand for good art, and through this means it 
acts upon the artist. He will do his best for a public that 
will appreciate every evidence of patience, of study, or 
of feeling that he may show, and the temptation to slight 
work will be the least possible to human nature, if he 
knows that its presence will be quickly detected and 
condemned. And if critics be hypercritical and facile 
in abuse, the effect is better upon the artist than if he 
is secure of his praise and his patronage, no matter how 
careless or indolent he may be. Lord Bacon somewhere 
wrote a sentence to the purport that it is the nation 
which is dissatisfied that makes progress; and with 
that in mind, the true artist can be thankful if he has 
fallen upon critical times, or even among hypercritical 
people. We indeed count it as by no means among the 
least of the services which the Metropolitan Fair did for 
the people of New York, that its Art Gallery furnished 
the text for such severe comment, — harsh comment if 
you will, — for we can see now that a new period of in- 
dependent criticism was then begun, and wTe can hope 
that it was the dawn of a brighter day than American 
art has yet seen. 
Every one remembers how varied and interesting was 
the collection whose relations we have just chronicled. 
We should add that a large contribution of pictures, UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
103 
sketches, engravings, and photographs, was received from 
Diisseldorf and Berlin, which came too late for exhibition 
at the Fair, and were afterwards sold for its benefit at the 
old Diisseldorf Gallery on Broadway. These were given 
mostly by the kindly German artists themselves, and in 
many cases were painted for contribution, and so man- 
aged as to show the artists’ sympathy with the cause of 
American liberty. Besides these things of which we have 
spoken, the Gallery possessed an unusually rich collection 
of engravings and photographs, including volumes and 
portfolios of rare sketches and etchings, which after de- 
lighting the few who discovered their quiet charm amid 
the blaze of color and the bustle of the crowd, found their 
way into numerous libraries, where, no doubt, they are 
still performing their graceful work of giving pleasure. 
The expenses of the Picture Gallery were greater than 
those of any other department except the Restaurant, — 
they were more than ten thousand dollars, — yet the out- 
lay was amply returned, and this department paid over to 
the Fair, after deducting all expenses, $73,638.58. This 
included nearly $2,500 from the exhibition of two private 
galleries. 
The collections thus thrown open to the public were 
those of Mr. Aspinwall and Mr. Belmont. To say nothing 
of the gracefulness or the success of the act, the attract- 
iveness of the Fair was enhanced by it in no trifling 
degree. One of these galleries is very rich in modern 
French, Flemish, and German works, while the other, 
as a crown to its beauties, has a Murillo of which New 
York may well be proud. 
Before leaving the Fair for to day, we will go to the 
southern end of the building once more, and take a look 
at the one or two rooms which we omitted in our survey 
of that end of the great hall. When we had “ done” the 
Indian Department we came into the main room, and 
turning to the right we went by the House-furnishing and 104 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
Lingerie Departments to the Restaurant. Had we turned 
to the left instead, we should first have come upon a stall 
devoted to the sale of the little newspaper, the “ Spirit of 
the Fair.” We have already commemorated some of the 
earlier numbers of this pleasant serial, and we cannot 
take a better time than the present for saying what little 
we have to say in a general manner about its success, 
pecuniary and otherwise, and first otherwise. The “ Spirit,” 
as we have said before, was begun upon a wise plan. It 
left the department of news, telegrams, army correspond- 
ence and the like to the regular daily newspapers of the 
city, and confined itself to chronicles of the daily life and 
appearance of the Fair, and to general literature. Its 
editors made known their wants, and graceful contribu- 
tions in plenty — essays, poems, stories, and jeux d’esprit 
of all kinds — poured in from writers whose names are 
known throughout the length and breadth of the land. 
The number which lies open before us — that for this day, 
Monday, April 11 — will serve as a sample, along with 
that which we quoted some days ago. 
There is first, Hoppin’s pretty title-page, whereon an 
angel with a cup of consolation descends upon a battle- 
field, which in the true American spirit of mingling the 
useful with the beautiful, is followed by a page of adver- 
tisements. Then comes a page devoted to a guide to the 
several departments of the Fair, which we have, once for 
all, transferred bodily to our own chronicle. After this 
comes “ Items and Incidents of the Fair,” followed by 
causerie and notices, all filling one page. Among the no- 
tices we find some relating to the “ Spirit ” itself, and one 
that makes it a matter of history, that the price of the Fair 
journal, when bought from the newsboys about the build- 
ing, was ten cents ; and that one might have a copy put 
up in a wrapper, addressed, pre-paid, and mailed from the 
editorial desk to any designated friend in the country, 
wdierever that may be, for only fifteen cents. The next UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
105 
page is occupied by a pleasant, gossiping letter, from 
Thomas Hughes, the historian of Tom Brown, to the edi- 
tor of the “ Spirit.” The letter is so genial, so full of in- 
terest, that we wish we could transcribe it here. We are 
sure that if any one can afford time to look back over 
things laid aside, just for the sake of a simple, quiet pleas- 
ure, he will be repaid for hunting the files of the “ Spirit 
of the Fair ” for this letter, and for a dozen things pre- 
served there and there alone. Next comes nearly a page 
and a half, part of a serial story by “ Sparrowgrass ” Coz- 
zens; and what more is needed to fill out two pages is 
given by a poem of Bayard Taylor. Then follow two pages 
of short articles, balanced and mingled like the ingredi- 
ents in a salad bowl; “A Letter from Mrs. Muddle,” whose 
style betrays her as related to the celebrated Mrs. Nickle- 
by; a never-before-published letter of Leigh Hunt’s, from 
the autograph collection of the Fair; a poem, by Lord 
Houghton, called “ England and America, I860 ;” “ Vers 
de Societe,” a notice of a volume mentioned in our ac- 
count of the Book-Room ; “ To the First Snowdrop,” by 
Epes Sargent; Charade No. IV.; a translation of Heine’s 
“ Lorelei,” by “ Carl Benson; ” and a little tribute to Dr. 
Lieber’s “Washington and Napoleon.” Then on the next 
page we have the installment for the day of the “ List 
of Contributors, and Articles Contributed,” not to the 
“Spirit,” but to the Fair; and the whole closes with two 
outside pages of advertisements. In point of literary ex- 
cellence, there are better and worse numbers than this one 
before us, but this will fairly do as a sample. The “ Items 
and Incidents of the Fair” were continued from day to 
day, and have formed for us an invaluable supplement to 
the reports in the great journals. We here gratefully 
acknowledge our indebtedness to this source for much 
that must otherwise have been lost, and will assure any 
one who wishes to revive the “ very form and pressure ” 
of the time, that nowhere else can it be found so perfectly 106 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
as in the “ Spirit of the Fair.” Perhaps the chief value of 
the little sheet was in the bright paragraphs, epigrams, 
etc., called forth by current events, for in them may 
be seen not only the facts, but the opinions and feelings 
of 1864,— opinions and feelings not disguised by the 
words which give them utterance, as they might have 
been had they been put in more formal and stately 
dress, but in that every-day undress which makes them 
at once familiar and trustworthy. 
Before turning to the other success of the “ Spirit ” — 
id est, its happy pecuniary balance—we will draw from 
the “ Items ” of this day, one or two, which may serve as 
appendix to our account of the Curiosity Shop. We find 
here mention of things we are so sorry to have omitted 
before, that we cannot pass them by again. The first is, 
the haversack of Charles XII. — a rude leathern bag, with 
a shoulder-strap fastened by large iron buckles, most 
soldier-like and unornamental : then we are reminded 
of a wonderful nugget of gold, weighing 195 lbs., and 
worth $40,000, or a little more than $17.09 per oz. troy ; 
and of a spinet, made in London one hundred years ago. 
We turn back to mention these things, just as during the 
Fair we turned back to them and a hundred like, for 
examination, when we were leaving a room under the 
comfortable belief that we had thoroughly “done” it. 
One was constantly tempted to linger there; and now 
the impulses to tarry are so many and so similar, that, if 
gratified at all, it must be in the time of a turning about. 
We hasten, then, to state the last item of interest in re- 
gard to the journal of the Fair. The proceeds in money 
of this enterprise — we will not keep you waiting for 
them — were just $2,618.93, which do not seem very 
large when compared with those of many departments; 
but one should remember that the expenses of publishing 
such a paper, were, as they always are, great, — the price 
paid for a copy, ten cents, not much more than paying 107 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
for the cost of paper and printing, and that such under- 
takings are generally, financially, failures. The paper 
published at the Fair in Washington, brought the Fair 
into debt; that at Brooklyn barely paid its expenses; 
so that the favorable balance of more than twenty-six hun- 
dred dollars in the accounts of the “Spirit of the Fair,” 
was, in its way, quite a wonder, as well as a blessing. 
Next to this stall was the room occupied by the Com- 
mittee on Stationery and Printing, — a shop attractively 
filled with the usual display of paper, pens, ink-stands, 
writing-desks, paper weights and cutters, and the count- 
less other furnishings of the library table. The walls were 
hung with pictures, and the room rendered pleasanter 
by such pretty things as bronzes, vases, carved work, and 
the like, as were scattered through nearly all departments 
of the Fair, whatever their specialty might be. Among 
the contributions to this committee were books, one of 
Hoe’s cylinder printing-presses, a type-distributing, and 
a type-composing machine. All these things, excepting 
the books, were exhibited in the Machinery Department. 
The Printing and Stationery Committee made over to the 
treasury, at the end of the Fair, $6,942.36. 
The next room was devoted to sewing-machines. The 
several manufacturers were generous, and set the value 
of their contribution as high as sixty thousand dollars, 
but, through one of those mistakes which will come to mar 
the welfare of the best regulated families and undertak- 
ings, this department realized but $3,303.62. We have 
said that contributions were liberal enough, and we can 
hardly believe that the public was taken with any spas- 
modic distaste for sewing-machines, since at the Brooklyn 
Fair just preceding there was sold more than thirty thou- 
sand dollars worth of them. We are assured, moreover, 
that the lady in charge of this department was lacking 
neither in interest nor energy; and we are therefore 
obliged to assume that the bad management was else- 108 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
where. The committee seem to have felt that their 
claims were disregarded too long, and that the room final- 
ly granted to them was so situated as to escape the notice 
of ninety-nine out of every hundred visiting the Fair. 
We are inclined to believe that in the pressure of a 
great diversity of interests such mistakes are only with 
difficulty avoided, perhaps are not to be wholly avoided 
by any care, and so we will put to the account of the 
general fallibility of human nature and human powers 
the want of success in the Sewing-machine Department. 
On each side of the door of this room were two stalls, 
one for the sale of optical and surgieal instruments, the 
other for a soda fountain. The former realized for the 
Fair $1,624.62, and the latter $1,033.85. Then came 
the room devoted to the deliberations of the Gentlemen’s 
Executive Committee. Upon that we turn no curious 
eye, but pass it with the reflection that it is the last room 
at the southern end of the Fourteenth Street building, 
and that in reaching it we have finished our survey for 
Monday, April 11. 
We learn from the newspapers of this day, that Mon- 
day was a rainy day. Not at all a traditional April day 
of mingled sunshine and showers, but gray and gusty 
and cold, with a steady pouring rain all day long. As a 
consequence, for the first time since the opening of the 
Fair, there was no crowd waiting two hours for the doors 
to open. For a little while after opening it seemed likely 
that for once visitors would have plenty of room for 
looking about them, but shortly after noon, just as if 
everybody had determined to take advantage of a rainy 
day, people began to pour in, and by and by the throng 
was as dense as ever. There was the usual promenade 
concert in the evening, and in the Union Square Music 
Hall another entertainment by the children of the Tenth 
TUESDAY, APRIL 12. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
109 
Ward Public Schools. This latter was greatly enjoyed, 
and we find the papers quite eloquent over the choruses 
that were sung bv three hundred fresh young voices, and 
a Lilliputian drill, in wrhieh none of the soldiers were 
more than twelve years old. 
The “sword contest” went on in spite of wind and 
weather; and at the hour of closing, the vote stood — 
General McClellan, 2,962 
General Grant, 2,335 
Scattering, 35 
Total, 5,332 
giving to General McClellan a majority of 627 votes. 
We find it recorded that with the beginning of this 
week a detective system was applied to holders of season 
tickets, in some cases with strange effect. It had been 
learned that many people, who were more generous than 
just towards their friends, had made their season tickets 
serve the wants of quite a number of their acquaintances. 
Sometimes the same ticket had done duty for a dozen. 
It was vexatious to find that there were people so mean 
as to be capable of cheating a charity — it was even a 
curiosity of human meanness. But seeing it once was 
enough, and an ingenious device was adopted to prevent 
its continuance. All persons offering season tickets at the 
Fair entrances were requested to inscribe their names in 
a book. If the signature in the book and the name on 
the ticket agreed the person was allowed to pass. They 
did not always agree, and such disagreements resulted 
unpleasantly for those offering the tickets. We do not 
hear that anybody considered himself hardly treated, 
but many acknowledged themselves outwitted. Some, 
of suspicious temperaments, refused to sign their names 
in the book. Their virtuous indignation secured their 
entrance to the Fair for that time, but their tickets were 
marked so that they would be known if presented again. 110 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
This expedient, if it did not materially advance public 
morality, at least protected the Fair against a deal of 
sharp practice. 
We find for the first time this morning traces of the 
temporary nature of the Fair. It had been going on as 
if people could buy there and be amused there forever. 
But this morning we read that the Buffalo ladies had sold 
out every thing at their table but some Indian goods, 
bead-work, baskets, etc., and that they had transferred 
these to the booth of the Fair Department, where there 
was already a large reserved stock, sufficient to sup- 
ply any drain that might be made on them. At the 
jewelry stall, too, nearly all the large pieces of silver 
had been sold, though many of these were to remain on 
exhibition. 
One of the leading morning papers had to-day an 
editorial calling upon the managers of the Fair for a 
half-price day, or for such days in every week, when the 
poorer classes might enjoy what their well-to-do neigh- 
bors had thus far had to themselves, and might have a 
chance to give, in their smaller way, to an object that 
was dear to all classes and conditions alike. 
Another paper, among the headings of its reports con- 
cerning the Fair, announces that the total receipts thus 
far are over six hundred thousand dollars. On turning 
over the leaves of this paper we find that it also has 
its editorial, more than a column in length, about the 
Fair. But it asks for no changes, finds nothing that is 
not to be commended, and is only remarkable as a full 
expression of the feeling of the time as to the value of 
the charity which was showing itself so nobly. 
Yesterday was chiefly given to the Picture Gallery. 
Opening out of this was a room devoted to the ship and 
boat builder’s art, — a fair starting-point for to-day. Here 
the walls were ornamented with naval insignia, drawings 
and models of famous vessels, and, of course, the national UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
111 
colors. Among the models was one of a steamer made 
of wood from the old frigate Constitution. The body of 
the room was filled chiefly with boats, from wherries and 
shells, famous in college regattas, to life-boats. There 
were also some beautiful models, and many curious and 
interesting things belonging to the working of ships. 
There was not much here for sale ; this was for the 
most part a department for exhibition, and valuable as 
adding to the attractiveness of the Fair. Yet the Ship- 
builders’ Committee represented a liberal trade, and so 
was able to make over to the treasury as the result of 
their labors, $20,105.72. 
The next room was a very busy looking place. It was 
filled with machinery, and, as a supplement, with curious 
people. One might have heard here, at any hour when 
visitors were present, plenty of admiring comment upon 
“ this wonderful mechanical age.” As a great deal of 
this comment came from the ladies, we have no doubt 
that it was warranted by the display around them. The 
gentlemen who had undertaken the furnishing of this 
department, had felt that they worked under a disadvan- 
tage. By reason of some oversight, theirs had been the 
last committee formed, and the time at their disposal was 
so short that they found themselves unable to represent 
the mechanical contrivances as fully as they wished. 
Even after lowering their standard of attainment, they 
were obliged to finish their department after the Fair 
had opened. But they must have been gratified when 
they saw how completely the show they had provided 
satisfied the public; how pleased we all were with the 
machine that turned out little wooden cups as fast as 
they could drop; with the sewing-machine run by steam 
that turned in a hem, and put in two thousand stitches 
a minute; with the patent oscillating engine, and the 
type-setting machine. Perhaps they thought that our 
standard of what such a department should be was not 112 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
very lofty; but they must have been pleased for all 
that, that their labors gave so much entertainment ; 
and if they did feel that the general public, even in a 
mechanical age, had much to learn about machinery, 
they must have felt also a compensating pleasure in 
the reflection that this very exhibition went some way 
to enlighten our darkness. We will confess that we were 
on the side of the ladies, and thought that this was an 
interesting and instructive show; and looking back to 
it at this distance of time, we think that it was one of 
the real attractions of the Fair to most thoughtful vis- 
itors. Its results in money were $18,744.16, made up 
partly from sales, and partly from contributions, as was 
the case with nearly all departments. The contributions 
here were particularly noticeable, because they came in 
good measure from the workmen in the various foundries 
and machine-shops of the city. 
We may mention also that this department received 
from many of these workmen contributions which could 
not appear in the money results, and which consequently 
were not easily seen by the public at large. There were 
those who gave time and labor towards setting up the 
machinery, and getting the room into order. It was in 
such uncounted and unseen gifts that the Metropolitan 
Fair was rich, and we cannot but feel, as we have before 
expressed, that it was just that self-forgetfulness of sym- 
pathy, that kindly union of all classes and interests, that 
makes the Fair precious to us as a work of the war. We 
find its final charm in the fact that it was a beautiful 
crystallization of the sentiment of its time, and that in 
it might be seen not only the charity and devotion, but 
even, shall we say it, the griefs, the prejudices, and the 
vanities that made up a united loyal North. These last 
traits we do not mean to dwell on; but their existence 
may occasionally be detected along with the devotion in 
the pages of our simple chronicle ; and we repeat, that UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
113 
to us it is because it was a microcosm of a time of great 
events, a time strong in disliking as well as in loving, but 
stronger in zeal than in prejudice, that we find the real 
greatness of the enterprise we commemorate. 
We may believe, however, that any one who studies 
the Fair will not be slow to see these things, and so we 
need not hesitate to resume our narrative. Coming out 
the Machinery Room in the main hall, one found ranged 
along its northern side a row of four stalls, devoted sev- 
erally to boots and shoes, saddlery, india rubber, and 
dry goods. The Boot and Shoe Stall was the first, and 
was evidently gotten up by some one who knew the 
dignity of the “ gentle craft.” It had a Gothic front, 
all crimson and blue, with a pediment of many-pointed 
gables adorned with crockets and finials. In the central 
gable was a picture of the good Saints Crispin and Cris- 
pian at work, with gilded glories around their heads, 
and an inscription in proper Old English on the red 
border — 0ois0on0, 21. JB. 287. 0t. Crtepiit, 0t. (Utopian, 
0l)oemak*er On the frieze below the pediment 
were the names of four other worthies who likewise 
graced this craft: Jacob Boehme, Hans Sachs, George 
Fox, and Roger Sherman. A tablet also hung from the 
frieze with the lines from Shakspeare’s “ Henry V.” — 
“ And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, 
From this day to the ending of the world, 
But we in it shall be remembered.” 
On the right of the two saints was emblazoned the es- 
cutcheon of Nicolas Lestage—a boot with a crown be- 
tween two fleur-de-lis, gold on a blue ground. The right 
to bear this shield was won from Louis XIV., by an in- 
vention of a seamless boot. Doubtless the grand mon- 
arch knew what it was to suffer from pinched feet. On 
the left was the shield of some mediaeval corporation of 
cordwainers — a gold measure on a green ground ; while 114 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
upon the angles of the pediment, and down the sup- 
porting pillars, was a brave display of heraldry. Or and 
argent upon fields sable, azure, gules and vert, varied by 
devices of gules and azure upon metallic fields. There 
was the resplendent shield of Les Cordonniers de Lam- 
balle — five golden shoes on a scarlet ground ; the modest 
and rather sombre arms of Les Cordonniers de Guise 
— two silver knives crossed on a black ground; and so 
on through a goodly number of the shoe-making guilds 
of feudal France; Les Cordonniers de Royers, de Bour- 
gen-Bresse, de Poitiers, de Metz, and the corporations of 
some other towns, some of which have declined from 
their ancient glory, and are now scarcely known outside 
of their departements. The antiquity and the dignity of 
the shoemaker’s trade was sufficiently set forth by these 
memorials of its guilds, which, indeed, might have af- 
forded to Dr. Doran material for another chapter in his 
“ Habits and Men.” We could only wish that she who 
had fitted up a stall so rich in historic suggestiveness, had 
added two more escutcheons: that of the shoemakers of 
Scotland, who carry in their arms St. Crispin, relieved and 
supported by a shoe-knife and a king’s crown, and that of 
the cobblers of Flanders — an imperial crown upon a 
boot, which might have recalled the pleasant old story 
about Charles V. and the cobbler. How the Emperor, 
who used to love disguises like the good Caliph Haroun 
A1 Raschid, one night in Brussels carried out his own boot 
to be mended. How the cobbler, whom he found drinking 
beer in a jolly company, refused to do any wrork that 
night, because it was St. Crispin’s, but so entertained the 
Emperor with good nature and plain speaking, that 
Charles sent next day for the cobbler, and instead of 
taking off his head for some personalities of the night be- 
fore about the Emperor’s long nose, gave him leave, for 
his frankness and heartiness, to ask any favor. The cob- 
bler’s petition was, that his trade might bear the arms UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION". 
115 
indicated above, and might take precedence of the shoe- 
makers in all processions; and, of course, to make the 
story complete, if for no other reason, the requests were 
granted. 
But with these passing tributes to the unrepresented 
guild, and the forgotten legend, we must grant that the 
Boot and Shoe Stall exhibited both taste and research, 
and, moreover, that its contents were admirably arranged. 
Many a child will remember the “ Puss in Boots,” which 
drew little people to this spot, and was subject of frequent 
comment among them. 
This department returned to the treasury, $8,092.83. 
The next stall was devoted to saddlery and harness. 
The usual decorations of bunting were here skillfully dis- 
posed so as to act as relief to the prevailing russet tones of 
the articles displayed. Here was every thing used about 
the horse. Beautiful saddles, — one of great magnifi- 
cence, sold by subscription, and given to General Grant,— 
bridles, riding-whips, blankets, and carriage robes, and, by 
an inclusiveness allowable to a fair, some very tempting 
trunks and valises. Many of these things had been made 
expressly for the Fair, and were finished with extraordi- 
nary care. One trunk, presented by the workmen of one 
of the trunk shops, had a parrot worked on the inside 
of the cover in feathers, and was otherwise so decor- 
ated as to call forth considerable attention and admira- 
tion. Here, also, were sold some rubber horse-shoes, 
which were benevolently intended to carry horses in 
safety over Broadway pavement. We wish that now, 
two years after their exhibition, we could record their 
general use. 
This booth realized $2,202.24. 
The Dry Goods Stall was, as might have been ex- 
pected, a splendid show. But dress goods, however skill- 
fully arranged, do not call for a description after they are 
dispersed. This booth was particularly remarkable as re- 116 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
turning a larger sum to the treasury of the Fair than any 
department except that of tickets. Its committee ap- 
pealed to a large and wealthy part of the community, 
and the response was noble. The wholesale firms gener- 
ally gave freely, manufacturers sent in goods, willing 
hands aided everywhere, and the result for the Fair was 
$137,066.31, about seven thousand of which came from 
sales. If the Dry Goods Department cannot make a 
large figure on our page, it has done much better than 
that upon the Treasurer’s Report, where it tells a noble 
story of the generosity of a wealthy class. 
As for the India Rubber Stall, we think wre cannot do 
better than to insert here what was told of it by the 
“ Spirit of the Fair ”: — 
“ At Stall No. 39,” says that veracious chronicle, “ may be found a 
most curious and interesting collection, exhibiting some of the many uses 
to which india rubber may be applied. Not satisfied with the merely 
utilitarian position it once occupied, the genius of caoutchouc aspires to 
an alliance with the most delicate mechanism, and to the regions of the 
ornamental. The reasonableness of this aspiration the articles shown at 
this table give ample witness to. The most striking exemplification of 
what may be done with ‘ hard rubber,’ is given in the elegant watch and 
chain, the first — but, we opine, not the last, — made of this universal 
material. It has all the beauty of the finest enamel. The watch was sold 
for $150. Among the useful things — not the least, by any means, in 
these war times — is the soldier’s filter, a slender india rubber tube, 
having at one end a filter of composition. It is only necessary to place 
the filter in the nearest ‘ mud-puddle,’ and a draught of pure water may 
be obtained to refresh the thirsty soldier. Every one who has a friend 
in the army should send him one of these, which he may easily carry in 
his pocket. A suction knob, for opening refractory drawers, is a most 
useful article ‘ to have in the house.’ A writing-table of india rubber, 
coated with emery, is an excellent unbreakable substitute for the ordinary 
fragile ‘ slate.’ A strap with handles for exercising the chest has received 
little attention, but is worthy of it, especially from people of narrow, con- 
sumptive chests. We are informed, by the highest authority, that ‘the 
merciful man is merciful to his beast; ’ we should say, then, that all who 
drive horses on Broadway, who want to be thought of that gentle class, 
should provide their steeds with rubber-padded shoes, which prevent slip- 
ping on the smoothest pavements. One of these is exhibited, which has UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
117 
been in use for four weeks, and gave great satisfaction. A number of 
very handsome piano covers, red, green, and maroon, with straw-colored 
borders, and valued at fifteen dollars, and a traveling bathing-tub, which 
may be folded into very small space, and inflated to a good sized tub at 
pleasure, are also exhibited. A large assortment of smaller articles, such 
as pen and pencil cases, ladies’ combs, brushes, hand-glass frames, &c., 
&c., all very cheap and pretty, make this an attractive table for those who 
want a lasting souvenir of the great Fair, but cannot afford very expensive 
investments.” 
The ladies in charge felt that they might have made 
even greater display had they only been granted more 
space. But that was a want which nearly every depart- 
ment felt, and so was remediless. But these ladies wanted 
this stall to present as grand a show as the india rubber 
booth in the Crystal Palace at London or Sydenham, we 
forget which, had done. There the hangings were of 
india rubber tapestry, and within those water-proof walls 
were gathered furnishings for every household want. 
Here the bulkier conveniences were excluded, but their 
fame was here in their stead, and perhaps they shone as 
great in the light of rumor, as they could have done in 
their very presence. “ Omne ignotum pro mdgnifico,” we 
are told. There was hung up in this booth a portrait of 
Mr. Goodyear, painted on hardened rubber. They said 
that the room which this portrait had previously adorned, 
and whence it was brought to the Fair, was “entirely fur- 
nished with india rubber chairs, tables, and even a beau- 
tiful secretary, all looking like ebony, and of most beauti- 
ful workmanship.” Doubtless the ladies would have liked 
to put similar furniture in this booth, but for consolation 
they may know that that india rubber set still lingers in 
many an imagination, invested with all the glories of a 
terra incognita. But this romance could not have survived 
the exhibition of the furniture, no matter how grand it 
might be. 
The returns of this department were $8,621.43. 
In the “Spirit” for Tuesday, April 12th, we find an- 118 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
nonncement that St. Louis is to follow in the train of the 
other cities which have held fairs, and that her enterprise, 
which will be called the “ Mississippi Valley Sanitary 
Fair,” will open on the 17th of May. Baltimore is to 
begin a similar work on the 17th of April. One more 
item, which shows how new people were two years ago to 
high prices for provisions, we copy for the close of this 
day’s review : — 
“ Among the relics in the Old Curiosity Shop, is an extra copy of the 
‘ New York Gazette,’ dated August, 1763, containing an ordinance of the 
city fathers, which possesses a melancholy interest to us who have fallen 
upon these ‘ evil times.’ It runneth thus : ‘ Forasmuch as through the 
Avarice of those who usually supply this City with Provisions, the Prices 
of all Manner of Victuals, daily brought to Market for the Sustentation 
of its Inhabitants, are grown excessively great, and not only ruinous to 
Families of the poorer Sort, but intolerable even to People of better 
Estate. In order, therefore, to remedy this great and growing Evil, and 
to fix and establish between Buyer and Seller reasonable Prices of Vict- 
uals hereafter to be brought to Market, and to regulate the Sale thereof,’ 
&c., certain stringent rules were ordained which, if enforced, must have 
filled the bosoms of our worthy granddams with delight. Beef, the 
worthy burghers decreed — with an ‘ eye single ’ to the public good and 
their own inward comfort, which hath ever characterized the race, should 
not exceed three-pence a pound in winter, and four-pence in summer, 
which is as if one should order in Fulton Market a delicious sirloin for 
dinner at about six or eight cents a pound. Pork and mutton were fixed 
at three-pence ha’-penny to four-pence ha’-penny, and lamb at sixpence. 
Butter — stand aghast, O extortioners, who demand six shillings for a 
pound of ‘ prime ! ’ — was established at from nine to twelve pence, ac- 
cording to season. Those were truly ‘ good old times,’ when the tender 
sensibilities of merciless speculators were not too sacred to be sternly 
dealt with ‘ pro bono publico.’ ” 
We doubt not that many people will to-day look back 
with something of curiosity to the feeling then betrayed 
in presence of prices to which they have long since be- 
come inured. It was also about this time that the omni- 
bus lines raised their fare to ten cents, and, for awhile, ex- 
cept upon rainy days, the stages were running nearly 
empty, while the street cars were, as they have been ever UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
119 
since, more than full. A little after the cars added one 
cent to their fare, and how much indignation was wasted! 
Who to-day minds the extra one or four cents ? 
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13. 
The price of admission was to-day lowered to fifty 
cents, and was not raised again during the Fair. It was 
still further reduced for the last two days to twenty-five 
cents, and, as Mr. Anthony Trollope, indifferent to repeti- 
tions would say, it was not raised again. We learn from 
the morning papers that despite of continued rainy 
weather, the people still thronged the halls of their favor- 
ite charity, and still voted for the sword, as the follow- 
ing figures will show: — 
Total number of votes cast at Fourteenth Street building, 7,004 
“ “ “ “ “ Union Square “ 71 
7,075 
Of this number General McClellan received, .... 3,597 
General Grant, 3,438 
Scattering, 40 
General McClellan was therefore 159 ahead. 
We read, also, that people elsewhere were becoming 
interested in the “ sword contest.” A desire had been 
reported on the part of soldiers in the army, as well as 
excitable folks in civil life, to vote for the disposition of 
this sword. Receivers of moneys and votes from abroad 
were therefore appointed, and advertisements apprised the 
world of the fact. One journal, however, this morning 
published an editorial condemning the extension of suf- 
frage. “The contest was innocent and entertaining enough 
for folks hereabouts; but it could do nothing but harm to 
get up discussion and squabbling in the army as to who 
was the greatest general. General McClellan himself had 
once issued an order to repress the heated disputes among 120 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
his troops, the evils of which were then very apparent; 
and a late order from Washington had censured the act 
of presenting swords or any gifts to officers from their 
soldiers. Besides this, the money raised at the Fair was 
for the benefit of the army, and it was not just to lessen 
hard-earned wages by such a ‘ dodge’ as this.” We are 
not sure that the objection was not well founded, but it 
was not thought to apply with any very great force to a 
contest that must be so short lived. At least we do not 
learn that the agency for proxy voting was given up. 
One thing may be inferred from our statement for to-day 
regarding the contest. The Arms and Trophies Room 
was getting too closely packed by eager partisans, and 
branch polls were established in Union Square. 
The signature book which was introduced on Monday 
into the ticket office, was not without effect on Tuesday. 
Many people, ladies and gentlemen in our free American 
language, refused to sign their names, and indignantly left 
the Fair. The not unnatural query raised was, “Were 
they borrowers of season tickets ? ” 
In the Union Square Music Hall, a concert was given 
on Tuesday evening by the Arion Society, with an orches- 
tra of forty performers. For this evening, one of Heller’s 
melanges, — music, jugglery, ventriloquism, was promised. 
One knew beforehand wdiat success would attend that so 
long as the little folk had free access to the show. The 
troublesome question of the terms upon which people 
might enter the departments of exhibition, Avas to-day 
settled by the Music Hall for itself, upon very equitable 
principles. They might not charge an extra fee to the 
season ticket-holders, and as they determined that those 
who had only single tickets had just as good a moral right 
to see all departments as the others, they decided to 
throw open their doors to all comers alike. This arrange- 
ment was not in itself pecuniarily profitable, but it was 
equitable, and it avoided some inconveniences. UNITED STATES SANITAKV COMMISSION. 
121 
To-day we shall turn to the west side of the main hall, 
and shall find plenty to hold our attention in the New 
Jersey Department, with its Irving Cockloft, its Four Sea- 
sons, and its Alhambra. At first sight it struck the eye 
pleasantly. High up on the wall, over all the booths, was 
the inscription in red, white, and blue letters, running 
over a great arc of a circle, “New Jersey.” This was bro- 
ken by an eagle with the national shield surrounded by a 
glory, the rays of which were American flags. There were 
also the arms of the State, and shields bearing the names 
of the contributing counties, and surmounting and ming- 
ling with all these, slender draperies and festoons of the 
three dominant colors. The stalls below were very gay 
and pretty. At the southern end of the line was a light 
structure, which, for want of any exactly fitting name, was 
called the Alhambra. It had carved columns, painted blue, 
red, and white, and a canopy, blue on the inside, and stud- 
ded with golden stars. Then came four stalls, dedicated to 
the four seasons, and adorned with the proper emblems. 
Spring was brilliant with flowers, Summer was decked 
with wheat and corn, Autumn with melons, pumpkins, 
apples, and grapes, and Winter with leafless boughs, 
covered with mimic snow and icicles. Between Summer 
and Autumn was an army tent, stained and battered, 
brought from Roanoke Island, and decorated for the Fair 
with flags and flowers. In front of its entrance stood two 
bronze figures, men in armor, devoted to the peaceful 
work of bearing gas-lights. At the end of this line, next 
the Machinery Room, was a quaint little building, a fac- 
simile of the summer-house celebrated by Irving and 
Paulding in “ Salmagundi.” A tiny garden, edged with 
a fence of pickets, and filled with plants from the garden 
where stands the original “ Cockloft,” with ivy from 
“ Sunnyside,” and presided over by an owl, perched on a 
branch by the roof, inclosed the moss-patched walls. 
Under the eaves was the motto from “ Salmagundi ” — 122 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
“ In hoc est hoax, cum quis et jokeses, 
Et smokem, toastem, roastem folkses ; 
Fee, faw, fum.” 
Inside, the single room was carefully copied after the 
original. Even a window that could not be reproduced, 
had its space marked out, and filled in with a painting 
of the view which the real window commands in that 
garden on the peaceful Passaic. There Avere gathered 
here many memorials of a writer whom Americans love 
to honor — portraits of Irving, pictures of scenes that 
he haunted or made memorable by his pen. These in- 
cluded drawings and paintings by Darley, Huntington, 
Inman, Schaffer, Vanderlyn, Jarvis, Leslie, Martin, and 
some others. There Avere two pictures, views in Sleepy 
HoIIoav, one by Miller, one by Inness ; “ Sunnyside ” from 
all sides, and under all lights and seasons; Inman’s “Rip 
Van Winkle,” and Huntington’s “Katrina Van Tassel” 
and “ Ichabod Crane.” Then there was a table at Avhich 
Irving used to Avrite, a case of portions of his manu- 
scripts, including the original title-page to the “ Sketch 
Book,” beautiful editions of his Avorks, Avith some early 
editions, the first both of the “Sketch Book” and of “Salma- 
gundi” among the number, and plenty of card photographs 
for sale, — copies of every portrait for which this gentle 
humorist ever sat. There were also some things in this 
room not connected Avith Irving, but AA7e can resist the 
temptation to enumerate them, all but the sAvords from 
the battle of Lexington, a scarf which Rose Standish 
wore in 1620, and a bit of the cherry-tree that George 
Washington cut with his hatchet. That last is enough 
to make one loquacious, but Ave forbear. 
The other divisions of this department Avere abun- 
dantly supplied and gorgeous Avith those wonders in silk 
and worsted which form the staple of most fairs. The 
modern Ulysses Avas aAvay at the war, and the modern 
Penelope’s web Avas an afghan for the Fair. Sometimes UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
123 
she made it up into a sofa cushion. The result as it 
affected the New Jersey Department was, that under the 
starry canopy of the Alhambra, and the canopies flowery, 
cereal, fruity, and icy, of the four seasons, there glowed 
such wealth of color as would have made Tyrian dyers 
envious. Yet this is scarcely enough to say of these 
stalls, and we will add a word for each separately. The 
Alhambra was divided between ladies from Rahway and 
ladies from Elizabeth City. Children’s clothing came from 
Elizabeth. Every thing that could be embroidered, or 
tucked and frilled for babies, was furnished here in be- 
wildering confusion.- Rahway shone in phantom bou- 
quets. The Alhambra also had a collection of autographs, 
mostly of men of to-day, such as Lamartine, Laboulaye, 
Comte de Gasparin, Monod, Lord Brougham, Kinglake, 
and three photographs, with autographs, of Rossini, Mey- 
erbeer, and Laboulaye, such as formed so attractive a 
feature of the Autograph Department. 
As for the seasons, Spring was under the care of 
ladies from Orange. There seemed to be a sort of 
symbolism about these booths; whether it was inten- 
tional or not we cannot say, but when we found amid 
the confusion of afghans, tidies, mouchoir cases, and the 
like, that the Spring Stall yet had a specialty, and that 
that was in things adapted to the budding time of life, 
we naturally concluded that a familiar allegory had 
here been called into play. We saw such baby-houses, 
and doll’s furniture, toy-ships and infant adornments, as 
made us sure that our analogy between childhood and 
Spring was not fancifully applied. 
Hoboken took care of Summer, just as she used to 
do when New York sought the shades of the Elysian 
Fields for coolness and repose. The allegory was not 
so prominent, however, in the contents of the booth. To 
be sure there were things light and graceful for ladies’ 
wear, and perhaps the pretty French “ articles of bigotry 124 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
and virtue,” as the old lady called them, which were here 
displayed were particularly adapted to that period of 
youth which is sometimes called the summer of life. 
“Delicately embroidered slippers, charming little hum- 
ming-birds for the hair, gloves, exquisite cameos, formed 
by the action of the waters at Vichy.” Life is surely 
not “ in the sere and yellow leaf,” when these things are 
demanded; so that after all the character of the contents 
was appropriate enough, though we confess that we were 
puzzled when we found here some fine bronzes; how we 
should relate them to Summer rather than to any other 
season, we leave the problem to be solved by the curious. 
“Paterson and other towns” (delightful vagueness) 
presided over Autumn, and represented the melancholy 
days in pine-cone picture-frames, and rustic frames made 
of strips of rough bark, collections of autumnal leaves, 
and baskets and boxes of cones, nuts, and knots. These 
for the sober side of the falling days ! One might fairly 
take the splendid hues of the afghans and sofa pillows, 
present here as elsewhere, for their pomp and glory. 
The colors of Berlin and Shetland wool, split and double 
zephyr, glowed in rivalry of the days when 
“ The trees are Indian princes.” 
And when the said trees had “ turned to ghosts,” we find 
the same worsted splendor glowing more richly than 
ever under the icicles of Winter. But afghans and car- 
riage rugs had a natural connection with frost and snow 
which needed no comment; and as for sofa cushions and 
embroidered chairs, when do their attractions make them- 
selves more felt than when a blazing fire heightens the 
contrast of all these things with the outer cold ? Morris- 
town and Madison were here the presiding powers, though 
receiving countenance and support from Newark. 
The tent was without any special character; it was 
merely a fair booth of the ordinary variety of display. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
125 
We find instanced as part of the attractions for buyers, 
“ a very elegant glove box, a wine case, a silver tea-set, 
a large stock of gentlemen’s furnishing goods, slippers, 
smoking-caps, tidies, etc.,” up to a “ beautiful model, about 
two feet and a half long, of the great twenty inch Rod- 
man gun, all mounted and ready for action,” to be sold 
by subscription, and given to an ex-mayor of Jersey 
City. To make the variety still wider, there were here a 
very costly and beautiful monograph on Alc/ce, a collec- 
tion of engraved portraits, with autographs, handsomely 
bound, and the flag of Commodore John Paul Jones’ 
famous privateer, the Bon Homme Richard — a truly 
catholic display, but when supplemented by paintings, 
bronzes, and a thousand unnamed treasures, it has such 
a distracting effect on the mind, and so defies all at- 
tempts at classification, that one turns to the general 
list of articles contributed to the Fair, and is restored 
to satisfaction by contemplating the greater anarchy 
there prevailing. One finds there within a space of 
three inches long, jumbled inextricably together, cos- 
metics, horse shoe nails, oil paintings, galvanized pails, 
a royal ermine muff, an ox weighing 3,618 pounds, 
books, glass ware, a patent burial case, fancy buttons, 
false hair, and an artificial leg. These are only speci- 
mens, but they show a diversity that makes any stall 
seem almost monotonous. 
We may take leave of the New Jersey Department 
in giving the last evidence of its good management and 
attractiveness. It yielded to the treasury of the Fair 
$38,285.99. 
On the west side of the hall beyond the New Jersey 
Department were three stalls — Toys, Thread and Needle, 
and Gentlemen’s Furnishing Goods, all useful and busy. 
They presented a fair show too, being decorated with 
great skill. A long and graceful draped canopy over- 
hung the tables, and above this the wall was hung with 126 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
flags disposed about guns and drums in an unusually 
effective manner. The returns of the three stalls, in the 
order in which they have been named, were, respectively, 
$1,851.45; $3,465.05; and $3,936.15. 
While the Fair had been riding all this time upon 
the high tide of popular favor, its course had once or 
twice ran athwart two crossing currents of public opin- 
ion. Though, if we care to speak exact truth we shall 
have to drop this metaphor, and say that before the 
opening of the Fair the question of raffling had been 
debated with some vigor. Other fairs had made a great 
deal of money out of raffles. We remember how that 
ancient and respectable city of Albany was given up to a 
perfect furore over the chances of the lot so long as 
there was any thing left at their fair of sufficient value 
to be divided into shares. But Albany is not a large 
city, and by this means a great many things were dis- 
posed of that must have remained unsold by ordinary 
means. In New York, however, the question was raised 
anew at the outset, and was treated from every point of 
view. It spread from committees to the newspapers, and 
so became subject of frequent comment. Some objected 
to raffles merely as nuisances; the habit of importun- 
ing strangers to take shares in things for which they 
probably care nothing, was condemned as ungracious, 
vexing to visitors, and making canvassing young ladies 
appear forward and hoydenish. Others said that raffling 
was unnecessary in New York; in Albany it might be 
a useful aid, but New York was a city where the costliest 
gifts would find a market. Still others said that raffling 
was illegal and not respectable; of course they did not 
judge the conduct of other cities, but New York should 
be above having recourse to questionable means of rais- 
ing money. These were but quasi-moralists resting upon 
expediency; their view was transcended by the real mor- 
alists, many of them, in truth, among the best men in the UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
127 
city, who said that the principle involved was bad, and 
that a great charity should not wink at any evil even if 
it should prove immediately profitable. There was no 
lack of talking on the other side, and the opposing views 
wavered on the edge of a compromise, when a protest 
against raffling from the Standing Committee of the 
Sanitary Commission was sent to the managers of the 
Fair. As this protest was quite celebrated in its day, 
and proved the weight which turned the scale against 
raffles, and even against all compromises, we give it 
entire : — 
United States Sanitary Commission, 
823 Broadway, New York, June 27(h, 1864. 
“ To the Gentlemen Managers of the Metropolitan Fair : — 
“ Gentlemen : — The Standing Committee of the United States San- 
itary Commission, having had the subject of “ Raffling ” brought before 
them, in connection with the Metropolitan Fair, desire to say very 
respectfully to your Committee, and to the Ladies’ Committee, that they 
are deliberately opposed to any resort to this questionable means of 
disposing of any of the articles on sale. 
“ They are opposed to it on these grounds : — 
“1. It is illegal ; and an institution like the Sanitary Commission, 
designed to minister to the wants of those who suffer in maintaining 
the cause of Law and Right in our National conflict ought not, directly 
or indirectly, to give the least countenance to any illegal proceeding, even 
if winked at by the authorities, or authorized by custom. 
“ 2. Without debating the principle involved, the actual influence of an 
appeal to the lot has been found so perilous to the social and moral 
interests of society, that its disuse is precisely proportioned to the advance 
of law, order, and moral and Christian culture. As public money-lot- 
teries have yielded to the rise of moral sentiment in this community, is it 
not time that all other kinds should follow them ; and is not the present 
moment a good one to strike at the root of the custom of raffling at fairs, 
which has survived most other forms of this evil ? 
“ 3. The Sanitary Commission, owing whatever pecuniary or other sup- 
port it has received to the confidence reposed in its law-abiding and moral 
character, feels that no increase in the pecuniary results of the proposed 
Fair, accruing from the use of any means subject to just question on 
either ground, could repay it for the loss of confidence, which it must 
suffer from such support. 
“ It cheerfully accepts any deduction from the probable returns from 128 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
the Fair, occasioned by adherence to the highest principles in the con- 
duct of it. 
“ Understanding that the Ladies’ Committee, inspired by high moral 
considerations, have already adopted rules restraining the more obvious 
evils of raffling, we cannot doubt that they will rejoice to perfect their 
good work by abolishing the custom. They have hesitated to do this 
probably only from fears of surrendering the pecuniary interests of the 
Fair. They will no longer hesitate, we trust, when we express our full 
readiness to run all the risk of this loss. 
“ Respectfully yours, 
Henry W. Bellows, 
C. R. Agnew, 
W. H. Van Buren, 
George Strong, 
Wolcott Gibbs, 
Standing Committee of the U. S. Sanitary Commission.” 
As we have before said, all raffling was now forbidden, 
and the vanquished side had only the liberty of holding 
and expressing their opinion left to them. The second 
week of the Fair matters took a turn which revived this 
subject, and the combat of opinions was renewed, per- 
haps with none the less vigor because no result was to be 
accomplished. The immediate cause of this fresh out- 
break was this. In the Art Gallery were two splendid 
albums filled with sketches and studies by all our best 
known artists. These had subscription lists attached, and 
there being some uncertainty about their final disposition, 
a suspicion arose that the subscription was only a raffle 
under another name, and so the sale was stopped, and the 
moneys received were ordered to be returned. It was 
shown, however, that the subscription was no ruse, that 
the albums were intended as gifts to some persons not yet 
determined upon, and the matter was left as it was before. 
Only the artists were not quite satisfied; the sale of the 
albums had been hindered, suspicion had been cast upon 
the mode of disposition, and it might be that they would 
not be able to retrieve their lost position. Naturally 
enough among those who sympathized with the artists, the UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
129 
principle which had caused their annoyance came in for 
its share of abuse. Upon this very day, too, Wednesday, 
there appeared in the “ Spirit of the Fair,” a champion of 
the raffle, who wielded his weapon with so much of grace 
that we must give him here the liberty of representing 
the cause he espoused. The sale of the albums had evi- 
dently not yet been interfered with when this lance was 
poised against the conservators of public virtue, and the 
reader will see that the doughty knight himself believed 
that the two subscription lists were no better than lottery 
chances. 
“ GEMS FROM THE NEW AND ADMIRED OPERA OF RAFFLELETTO. 
[ The music of the Overture expresses chaos and universal woe. The exult- 
ing shouts of demons are heard engaged in “ debauching the public con- 
science, and corrupting the public virtue.” The voices of the head d-vils 
are recognized as those of Mrs. , Miss , and and 
, Esquires. A few faint puffs of expiring virtue are indi- 
cated by the comet-a-piston.~\ 
Time. — The day on which the celebrated Protest appears. 
Enter Deacon Aminidabino Slekkini, coming from the B-olc-rs Board, and read- 
ing the morning paper. 
RECITATIVO. 
“ Che ! Lottery ! Gambling ! Chances at a Charity ! O Cielo ! Jingo ! 
But ye streets of William and of Wall, paths of honor, honesty, and law, 
never shall the gold or greenbacks eke I find in you be stained by such 
vile uses. Chances ! Lotteries ! O precious Erie ! Harlem coy ! and 
thou, most steady Central; whither tends the time ? (Reads.) Thanks, 
gentle Reverends ! ’Gainst the serious sins how gladly doth this heart see 
ye arrayed ! (Enter a poor woman asking for a penny to feed “ six small 
children.”) Go to the D—vil! (Reads.) Alas ! A Grab-bag! O In- 
famy ! A Fishing Pond ! “ Chances ” to help the sick and dying soldiers ! 
Nay, nay. By heaven, never; so keep me, Genius of the B-ok-rs 
Board ! 
“ Some sins are venial, so the Doctors say, 
But this debauching Raffle, — well-a-day ! 
The Fair is foul; I will not be its prey. 
aria basso, clericalmente e nasaloso. 
“ What a pity ’t is tainted with sin! 
What a pity it leads to the Pit! 130 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
’T is here that corruption comes in, 
And virtue falls dead in a fit — 
In a fit, fit, fit, 
Ri-too-ral-loo ; 
And virtue falls dead in a fit. 
Scene changes. Drawing-room at No. — Twenty Street. 
Enrico and Clara, 
aria tenore, con hatinhando. 
“ Come fly with me, dearest girl, 
Take my arm to the wonderful Fair ; 
’T is all a no end of a whirl 
In Fourteenth Street and sweet Union Square. 
soprano, longingtoyoamente. 
“ Enrico! how great is your power! 
But I cannot consent to such sin ! 
The Fair may be bright as a flower, 
But oh, there’s a serpent within — 
Within-in-in, 
Fol-de-rol-lol-la, 
But oh, there’s a serpent within. 
aria tenore, solemcholico. 
“ Clara ! ne’er shall you be so shocked or 
Pained; so free your heart from doubt, 
For a Seventy-re verend-Doctor 
Power has pulled the serpent out. 
duettino, giocosomente. 
“ Let virtue shout, 
Tittery-tee ! 
The demon rout, 
Behold it flee. 
And we are free, 
Both you and I, 
And Sleekini, 
To go and buy 
Rum-ti-iddity, 
Rum-ti-ti! 
Gioia! Gioia ! 
W e can buy. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
131 
Enter Deacon Sleekini. 
TRIO. 
“ Gone the serpent that debauches. 
Lo ! corruption disappears, 
Let us wave triumphal torches. 
Let us wag victorious ears. 
Enrico. Long ears! 
Clara. Dear ears ! 
Deacon Sleekini. Our ears. 
Tutti. Let us wag victorious ears. 
[They go in. Tableau. They hug subscription tickets to the Artists’ Album. 
Triumphal March. 
“ Jacky shall have a new ribbon 
And Jacky shall go the Fair.” 
[Scene clotes. 
It is evident, however, that the discontent of the van- 
quished party was not wholly vented in this utterance. 
There was, not long after, given us by the same means 
and from the same hand, “ Thomas and Edward; an 
Eclogue of the Fair,” wherein the writer shows plainly 
his light consideration of the principle which had been 
so gravely enunciated by the mouth-piece of the“Seventy- 
reverend-Doctor power ; ” he says: — 
Thomas. 
“ A raffle is naughty : oh my ! 
We never would do so, no, never ! 
Yet, Ned, change an a to an i, 
And cut off an f — did you ever ? 
Although for the veriest trifle 
To raffle, these dear ones refuse, 
Their virtuous fingers may rifle 
Our pockets as much as they choose.” 
To which 
Edward. 
“ How unfair at a Fair of the fair, 
And so fairly fairy as this is, 
To make an affair of the fare, 
That you pay for your trip through these blisses.” 132 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
The harmonious conclusion of Thomas is not quite rel- 
evant to our subject of raffling, yet we give it for the 
reason assigned by Mother Goose and a more modern 
rhymester for giving a story — that if you find it very 
short, it will not hold you long. 
Thomas. 
“ Dearest ladies, forgive me, I pray; 
To my promise to buy hold me tight; 
For I swear to go by all the day, 
And then to bye-bye all the night.” 
All this, of course, does not seriously attack the posi- 
tion taken by the Executive Committee. They are bits 
of playful fence, but they showed to the wTould-be-rafflers, 
as well as a serious encounter could have done, that there 
was strength and skill on their side. After the battle had 
been decided, there was no use in wasting strength in a 
fruitless struggle ; but light skirmishes, or, to return to 
our former metaphor, single passages at arms, might be 
allowed to show that the spirit of the vanquished was 
not yet subdued. 
It is but just, however, to say that when the resolution 
against raffling was adopted, it was with the expectation 
that thereby some pecuniary loss and some annoyance 
would be caused. Some wonders of domestic art must 
fail of finding their price,, and their vendors, commendably 
zealous, must yet grow weary in their efforts to get rid of 
the unsalable, and must naturally get out of patience with 
a principle which thwarted their pious ardor. These ex- 
pectations were, of course, sufficiently realized. One or 
two ladies, when the grievance had become too great to 
be borne quietly, wrote pathetic and argumentative ap- 
peals to the Committee, which were published in the 
Spirit.” Indeed, we are inclined to believe that that 
journal was of their j)arty, and was guilty of administer- 
ing “ aid and comfort ” to these malecontents. However UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
133 
that might be, the Committee steadily held its way, like 
any party in power, making no replies, and probably 
troubling itself but little with appeals or adverse criti- 
cism. At the close of the Fair the Executive Committee 
printed its report, in the course of which we find the 
latest utterances upon the disputed question. The man- 
agement had seen no reason to be dissatisfied with their 
action. They say : — 
“ Baffling was not practised, either openly or covertly, at the Fair. But 
two instances could be seen where loss was suffered by this course, viz.: 
in the sale of the art albums, and in musical instruments. These may 
have made a difference of $20,000, but the gain in elegance and refine- 
ment, to say nothing of morals, was immense. This absence of raffling, 
and the simple costume adopted by all the ladies serving at tables, made 
the Fair unique of its kind. All visitors agreed in saying that it was 
conducted in a most orderly and dignified manner Some, who 
regretted the prohibition of raffling, predicted that the Fair, lacking that 
source of excitement, would be dull; but the crowd which filled every 
avenue during every hour, the news-boys with their picturesque costumes 
and cheerful voices offering at all times the 1 Spirit of the Fair,’ the music 
which every morning and evening added its exhilarating tones to the 
voices of the crowd, the sword voting, conducted with great spirit and 
constant good feeling, the ever-moving machinery attracting thousands 
by its activity and ingenuity, the Indians with their characteristic war- 
dances, the Bestaurant with its ever-renewed attractions and fluctuating 
but always numerous devotees, added to the endless catalogue of objects 
grotesque, beautiful, rare, and attractive, offered for sale, presented a suffi- 
cient variety of excitement and pleasures.” 
Thus happy was the retrospect of the Executive Com- 
mittee, and we cannot say that they had not every reason 
to indulge themselves in it. Following, however, our 
principle of impartially representing both sides in a differ- 
ence like this, which calls for no decision on our part, we 
must chronicle the fact that two letters, published in the 
“Spirit of the Fair”—those appeals of zealous assistants 
to which we have already referred — disagree with the 
statement that only two instances were visible where the 
principle of no raffling wrought pecuniary damage. These 134 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
letters we will transcribe, out of pure regard for justice 
and historic verity, and then each side may be held to 
have fairly spoken its opinion. 
[“ For the ‘ Spirit of the Fair.’] 
“ Messieurs et Mesdames the Committee : — 
“ Permit me, as one deeply interested in the success of the Fair, and 
in that of the Sanitary Commission, which God speed in its good work, 
to call your attention to a matter of some importance. 
“ Before the resolutions against raffling were announced, many ladies 
had made, as their donation to the Fair, rare and beautiful fancy articles, 
as delicate as they were valuable. These they wished to dispose of at 
their real value, often amounting to a large sum. Now, let me ask, how 
can we do this while raffling is rigorously and entirely excluded ? With 
the exception of the more wealthy part of the community, people can- 
not afford to spend fifty or sixty dollars on a single fancy article, although 
perfectly willing to acknowledge that it is worth the money ; and, where 
they would gladly take a dollar share, go away without contributing their 
mite to the treasury. 
“ Now, surely, if a man wins an afghan, or a bouquet of wax flowers 
at a fair-stall, he need not go and ruin his family at a faro-table. Assist- 
ing the soldiers to fight our common enemy, is not an act likely to be 
associated with ‘ fighting the tiger.’ There need be no raffles at the 
Children’s Department if they are thought likely to lead the youthful 
mind out of the way it should go ; and surely, allowing beautiful articles 
to go to ruin in the dust, as they are now doing, to be finally disposed of 
at auction for a mere song, is not the best way to roll up a pile of sub- 
stantial and much needed ‘ greenbacks.’ 
“ Now do, most courteous, brave, and liberal Signors and Signoras, who 
have so well sustained your part in this, our effort to aid our Sanitary 
brethren, yield a little in this respect. Don’t strain at such a gnat as a 
dollar share in a wax doll, while the tremendous camel of an army of 
sick and wounded men remains to be disposed of. We are doing our best, 
but human strength, womanly strength especially, has its limits; and we, 
who are working at our stalls, feel that our labor will be indeed in vain 
as regards the more expensive goods, unless either an army of rich old 
codgers, with purses as long as their rent-rolls, and hearts as large as their 
incomes, march to our relief, or we are allowed to dispose in a fair and 
honorable way of those articles which otherwise will remain a dead loss 
on our hands. 
“ Our soldiers have not been unready at that great lottery, the draft. 
Those on whom the lot fell, went gladly and willingly to yield up their UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
135 
lives and their all in the service of our country. Let us, bearing this 
in mind, avail ourselves of the readiest means in our power to serve 
those ‘ who suffer that we may enjoy,’ taking good heed meanwhile to 
enforce the weightier matters of the law, and be assured we shall be 
held blameless in this matter also. 
“An Assistant at the Fair. 
“ New York, April 18,1864.” 
The other appeal is dated the same day, and is even 
more urgent. 
“ RAFFLING. 
“ To the Executive Committee : — 
“ I am one of those patriotic and persecuted young women who 
‘ assist ’ at the Fair, in the Fourteenth Street Department. 
“ I have talked like two auctioneers in one, smiled like Patience on 
a monument, and dressed like a French costumer day after day, in the 
desperate endeavor to induce sewed-up pockets to open, and acute tri- 
angles of hearts to expand for the benefit of the Sanitary Commission 
and the Soldiers. I am sure I shall need an Insanitary Commission to 
look after me if I have to do this much longer ; and the sole cause, and 
‘ first principle ’ of the whole trouble is — we cant have raffles. 
“ Let me give you an instance. I have at my stall a very beautiful 
bouquet of phantom flowers. Everybody who comes by admires it, and 
would be happy to negotiate, but the price is, of course, commensurate 
with the beauty and rarity of the article ; and thus, what between the 
hard-heartedness of some, and the insufficient greenbacks of others, my 
poor flowers are being ruined by the dust, for want of a customer or — 
a raffle. 
“ Your committee have made a very great mistake. Raffling is not 
gambling. A gambler always wants to make money; while not one in 
fifty who buy chances wants or cares for the article in question. No, 
indeed; they come to give their mite, and they cannot afford to buy. 
“ In and on many of the stalls the most expensive things are left, not 
more than a tenth part of the articles have been sold. Pray, pray, let 
us have raffles, so different in their nature from gambling, and win the 
hearty thanks of many and many a poor, tired 
“ Assistant. 
u April 18, 1864.” 
Very likely this last letter overstates in its eagerness; 
one can find in it more than one assertion that looks 
like exaggeration. But still, concurrently with the for- 136 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
mer letter, it shows that there were ladies about the Fair 
who did not look at the non-raffling course through the 
rose-colored spectacles of the Executive Committee. If 
we could have found a calm, grave paper like that of the 
Standing Committee, only in favor of raffling, we should 
have gladly given it place in these pages. But we have 
represented the opinion of the time as we found it ex- 
pressed, and if the objections on one side do not answer 
to the arguments advanced on the other it probably 
does not much matter— our aim is historical, not con- 
troversial. 
There were other questions of policy debated in re- 
lation to the Fair. But this one of raffling was the only 
one which attained a public interest; and the remark- 
able thing about it is that, after it had been practically 
settled by the final action of the Executive Committee, 
discussion still continued, and lasted as long as there 
was an afghan or a phantom bouquet left to dispose of. 
Whether the course of succeeding fairs has been in- 
fluenced by that of the Metropolitan Fair we do not 
know. Information on this point would perfect the his- 
tory of the controversy. If it should turn out that 
people have been raffling ever since whenever church 
fairs have opened their festive doors, it would seem 
either that the world is not yet prepared to give up all 
its bad habits, or that the habit in question is not so 
very bad, and that prohibition of it is persecution, or 
at least useless rigor; and so, raising this new dilemma, 
we leave the matter to the future historian or moralist, 
and turn ourselves to the items and departments of 
Thursday, April 14. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
137 
THURSDAY, APRIL 14. 
The faithful journals tell us that Wednesday was an- 
other rainy day, — the third in a dreary succession, — yet 
the zeal of the public was not quenched. People flocked 
to the Fair in numbers almost as great as those which 
graced fine weather days. The “ sword contest ” was, 
the papers said, steadily increasing in interest, though 
the number of votes cast rose and fell in a most un- 
accountable manner. The votes of Tuesday exceeded 
those of any former day, running up to 1,743, against 
1,140 for Monday, and 643 only for Tuesday. The 
count thus far, stood as follows: — 
General McClellan, 3,934 
General Grant, 3,741 
Scattering, 43 
Total, 7,718 
General McClellan over General Grant, 193. The figures 
look as if there was a lull in this contest. We shall find 
also that upon Thursday, the day now before us, the vote 
was scarcely larger; but we cannot now say whether 
this pause was real, or only apparent. The reporters 
describe it as having been a time of increasing excite- 
ment. The Arms and Trophies Room, they say, was so 
crowded that it was with difficulty that one got at the 
desk where votes were registered. Inconsiderate admir- 
ers of one general or the other lingered about indulging 
in audible conjectures, and even bets, as to the political as 
well as military creed of those who struggled toward the 
polls. “ He’s a Copperhead; I know him by the look.” 
“ V for Grant ” ; “ There goes one for ‘ Little Mac’ ”; 
“How are you, Unconditional Surrender?” and so on, 
until we find a call in one of the papers to the police 
to abate a freedom of speech that was become a nui- 138 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
sance. “ Clear the way to the books 1 ” was another cry 
that drowned the rest. One reporter, whom we suspect 
of a vivid imagination, told how five and ten dollar 
bills were rolled into little wads and discharged over the 
heads of the crowd at the young men in charge- of the 
polls. It may have been that this great interest in the 
vote was itself the reason why the vote was no larger. 
The zeal of a crowd is not always according to knowl- 
edge, and may here have stood in the way of its own ex- 
pression. But the point is not capable of debate, and so 
we turn to the other gossip of the day. 
In the Hardware Room, among the ranges offered for 
sale, was one given by a boy in a Rhode Island cavalry 
regiment. Such a gift from a common soldier was mag- 
nificent in proportion to his means, and doubtless would 
have attracted attention as an instance of extraordinary 
generosity, even had there been no romantic story at- 
tached, as there was, to add interest to this homely mu- 
nificence. The giver was a Tennessee boy, at school in 
Maine when the war broke out. Remittances ceased, 
and the boy left school and worked his way home, where 
he found that the last letter in which money had been 
inclosed to him had been intercepted, and his mother 
was under arrest on some charge connected with the 
sending of that letter. The boy himself was suspected 
of being a spy, so runs the story, and an effort made to 
hang him, which, happily, he frustrated by making his 
escape to loyal soil. The chronicle adds, that he brought 
his mother away with him. Of her we lose sight from 
that time, but the boy’s troubles were by no means 
ended. In May 1863, he was arrested in Philadelphia, 
by some mistake, as we are assured ; the event was none 
the less unhappy for being a mistake, since it deprived 
the boy of the trunk containing his worldly possessions, 
and lodged him in a Baltimore jail for several months. 
In this mistake his father suffered as well as he. Upon UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
139 
being released he made his way, by what means we are 
not told, to Rhode Island, and there joined the Third 
Rhode Island Cavalry, and the last we hear of him he 
was in New Orleans with his regiment. There lie before 
us now parts of two of his letters that were given to the 
public, full of boyish determination expressed with all 
a boy’s eloquence, — an eloquence that is apt to lapse 
into anticlimax, but which produces its effect by means 
of simple warm feeling. Writing to his brother, under 
date of January 21, 1864, he says : — 
“ I hope you will soon be able to think of me as a soldier with dif- 
ferent feelings. How could I bear to have it said of me in the future, 
that I stood idly by in all the vigor of youth, and saw this great struggle 
to preserve our country and our government from destruction, and took 
no part therein. My own children, should I ever have any, (‘ oh, restrain- 
ing prudence ! ’) would not respect me as I wish to be respected, and it is 
astonishing to me that my brother should be arranging business plans, 
till this work of suppressing the Rebellion is accomplished.” 
Then, under date of February 1G, evidently in reply 
to some question about his return, he says: — 
“ My return ; where ? By this accursed Rebellion I have been, at the 
age of seventeen, thrown upon the world homeless and friendless. My 
parents have been insulted and robbed. Thank God it is no worse ; 
my country’s flag has been insulted, her property seized, and my country- 
men murdered, and for what has all this been done ? and a thousand 
times more. You know that father is a slave-holder, and that I have 
been with slaves all my life, but I cannot avoid tracing this whole diffi- 
culty to that accursed institution, and from henceforth I am opposed 
to it, and every upholder of this Rebellion I look upon as my mortal 
foe, and shall treat him as such. 
“ I trust the war will be ended in less than three years, but I have 
enlisted for the war, and shall continue a soldier as long as there is 
an armed Rebel warring against my country.” 
The amusing grammatical slip, which we have italicized 
in this letter, is only another evidence of the eagerness 
and hurry with which it was written. Later he sent fifty 
dollars, with directions how it should be invested for the 140 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
Sanitary Fair, and evidently feeling that he might be 
providing for his own wants in some hospital to which 
his next chance might carry him. That is the story as 
it was given to us. We cannot vouch for its truth, but 
it is at least like hundreds which were true of that time, 
and is an example of the tales of strange chances and 
unexpected devotion which then came to us almost daily, 
and in which our interest never failed. 
As for the other gossip of the day, we find that, as 
might have been expected, Heller had delighted the little 
people in Union Square, and that they were to-day to be 
entertained with gymnastics and calisthenics ; that a 
lady in the Jewelry Department had sold some diamonds 
marked three hundred and fifty dollars for three dollars 
and a half, which mistake was satisfactorily righted; and 
that on Saturday a performance of “ Cinderella ” was to 
be given, wherein the actors were to be children. As 
this last event is still held in pleasant remembrance, we 
shall have more to say of it in due time. 
The eastern side of the main hall is the only one 
which has not yet undergone review. It was occupied 
by three divisions of no small consequence: one devoted 
to the Fire Department, one to Roman contributions, 
and one to jewelry and gold and silver ware. The Fire 
Department made a brave show ; its stand was brilliant 
and popular, its business prosperous ; altogether it fur- 
nished one of the attractions of the Fair. The stand was 
seventy-five feet long, and had an architectural front 
erected, Renaissance in style, that was very beautifully 
decorated. There was a central pediment surmounting a 
lofty arch, which was connected by long wfings with two 
lower pediments, and arches at the ends of the stall. 
Within the middle arch was the arms of the Fire De- 
partment, and surmounting the elevations at the ends 
were statues of firemen, uniformed, and trumpet in 
hand ; between were brilliant rows of signal lanterns, UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
141 
alternating with shields bearing the names of the prin- 
cipal battles where the Fire Brigade had fought — 
Antietam, Gettysburg, Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, New 
Orleans, Port Hudson, Vicksburg, Chattanooga. This 
composition was so nicely put up, that people, especially 
ambitious reporters, were betrayed into speaking of it 
as a “ facade,” as if it had been built of marble, and 
wrere to endure for centuries. It was only, however, a 
very pretty make-believe front, roofed with soft draperies 
of flags. High above the stall, among the rafters of the 
main building, the instruments of the firemen’s work 
wTere skillfully arranged so as to complete the brilliant 
effect of this corner of the hall. Pyramids of firemen’s 
hats, bearing the number of the companies that had 
contributed toward getting up this stall, stands of pipes 
of burnished brass and copper, which mimicked the di- 
vergent rays of the rising sun, hooks and ladders, torches, 
axes, hose, all backed by the canopy of crimson, white, 
and blue. At night the whole was made yet more re- 
splendent by flaming devices in gas, wThich hung before 
the whole. The word “Union,” with the motto “Always 
Ready,” surmounting the national arms, and below these 
in great letters, “ New York Fire Department.” As for the 
contents of the stall they were so varied and numerous 
as to defy our poor efforts at classification. There was 
every thing, from statuary, paintings, and autographs to 
tidies and needle-books ; and business was so brisk that 
this stall paid into the Fair, over and above its expenses, 
$27,500.23. One thing more we will mention here, be- 
cause it will lead us to something which we have omitted 
too long: the ladies in the Fire Department Booth wore 
pretty badges in token of their position — the arms of 
the department in silver on a black ground surrounded 
by a wreath of gold. This some way reminds us that 
we have not spoken of the general uniform which was 
adopted by the ladies “ assisting ” at the Fair. In a let- 142 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
ter we quoted concerning the subject of raffles, the lady 
writer asserted that she had “ dressed like a French cos- 
tumer day after day,” and now we think of it, we must 
regard her expression as calculated to mislead. We are 
not quite sure what a “ French costumer ” is like, but to 
our imagination it presents itself vaguely as something 
brilliantly splendid and changeable as a chameleon; and 
if this idea is correct we ought surely to have said before, 
the dress prescribed and generally adopted was of black 
silk varied only by a sash of the national colors worn 
over one shoulder, and by such charms of face and 
manner as the ladies were able individually to add. No 
lady will need to be reminded that two years ago sleeves 
were small, that waterfalls were just making their ap- 
pearance, and that “ rats ” were doing their best to dis- 
figure the hair. When a gentleman is told of these things 
he can easily call up an accurate image of any “Fair 
assistant” whom he may choose to picture to himself. 
We cannot better take leave of this stall than by insert- 
ing a letter showing what another Fire Department did. 
“ Office Chief Engineer, 
Binghampton, April 4,1864. 
“ Wm. H. Wickham, Esq., Chairman San. Com. N. T. F. D.: — 
“ Dear Sir, — In accordance with a circular received from you some 
time since, we hereby transmit a draft for $2,125.56, being the avails of 
a Fair and Festival held by the Binghampton Fire Department in aid of 
the Metropolitan Fair, now being held in your city, for the benefit of the 
U. S. Sanitary Commission. Please present the inclosed draft, with the 
best wishes of the Binghampton Fire Department. 
“ Respectfully yours, 
“ F. A. Morgan, Chairman San. Com. B. F. D. 
M. Clay Preston, Treasurer San. Com. B. F. D.” 
The decorations of the next stall sufficiently pro- 
claimed its character. High up against the wall wras a 
shield upon which sat an eagle, and which bore the letters 
familiar to every school-boy— S. P. Q. R. Under that was 
the triple crown and the crossed keys of St. Peter, and 143 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
still lower the kindly and venerable face of Pio Nono. 
All these were surrounded with prettily hung draperies, 
among which were flags of the Papal States; and the 
Roman Table stood confessed without any need of asking 
questions. When one came to look closer, the story told 
by these decorations was confirmed. There were statues 
of saints and shrines, and an altar to the blessed Virgin 
Mary; and the secular contents of the stall were no less 
characteristic. There were paintings, contadini, pilferari, 
campagna views; temples, arches, aqueducts; Capri, Terra- 
cina, Tivoli; Pasquecia, a lovely Roman model, in oils and 
in water colors, as well as in crayon and marble. Copies 
after the Italian painters were things of course. We do 
not know how many times Beatrice Cenci, the Mater Do- 
lorosa, the Cumaean Sibyl, or the Madonna della Sedia 
were repeated. They were each and all to be found on 
ivory, on silk, on porcelain, or on metals, as well as on 
canvas. And besides these there were copies after many 
pictures that were not so very familiar, and one original that 
was as startlingly distinguished from its surroundings as a 
moss-covered boulder would be in a drawing-room. This 
was a view in the Adirondacks. The contrast with scenes 
whose natural grace had been heightened by so many 
centuries of cultivation, exaggerated the roughness and 
loneliness of the American landscape, and naturally set 
one to thinking a great many wise thoughts about the 
countries of the past and the future. But such thoughts 
could not last long at the Fair, and at present cannot 
keep us from other things which call for attention to this 
stall. There were no more Adirondack pictures, but there 
were busts and bas-reliefs, Christian and Pagan, mingled 
with an impartiality which only the Holy City knows. 
A faun cheek by jowl with a Madonna, or St. Catharine 
confronting Antinous. Of such things as travelers 
bring away for souvenirs, there were, of course, plenty. 
Cameos, mosaics, jewelry from Castellani’s, bronzes, with 144 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
any number of photographs and engravings. Photo- 
graphs of all sizes, from the immense views of architec- 
tural subjects that have since been becoming more 
common in New York — thanks, we believe, to the 
Roman Table at the Fair — down to stereoscopic views, 
and even the carte de visite size, and many valuable 
books of engravings, including that volume of Canova’s 
works which every one who visited the Fair will remem- 
ber, — the huge folio sent by Miss Cushman for the 
School of Design at the Cooper Institute. It is needless 
to say that the Roman Table was popular, for if there is 
a land in the world over wdiich Americans are senti- 
mental, that land is Italy. So this table was thickly 
surrounded during all the brief time that it exercised its 
fascinations. It was not furnished until Monday, the 
eleventh of April. The way from Rome to New York is 
a long one, and the vessel could not sail any faster be- 
cause it was late for the Fair. But the delay worked no 
harm. By Thursday, the day of which we now write, the 
Roman Table was cleared of every thing except a few 
pictures, busts, and photographs, and had realized, in its 
three days of sales, about five thousand dollars. When 
it rendered its final account, it gave into the general 
treasury, $7,871.80. 
We have already mentioned, in regard to the Jewelry 
and Silver-ware Department, that nearly all the larger 
articles were sold during the first week. Many of these 
things were, however, left on exhibition, so that the booth 
remained about as brilliant as ever. As for the booth 
itself, it was conspicuous all over the main hall, owing to 
the background it had set up — an elevation half Moor- 
ish and somewhat bizarre in style. But we will turn at 
once from the decorations of the stall to its contents, and 
there it is scarcely a joke to say that we shall find the 
Jewelry Department shining. It seemed as if the con- 
tributors had striven not only to give liberally, but that UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
145 
their gifts should all be of the best possible design and 
workmanship, and should be valuable as much from their 
beauty as from their material. There were silver vases 
that had once graced the last Paris Exposition Univer- 
selle; Spergnes, candelabra, tea-services, every thing that 
is made of silver, all of the most delicate design; clocks 
and mantel ornaments, — bronze, china, and Bohemian 
glass ; watches, incrusted in jewels and plain ; bracelets, 
pins, and fans; every thing that can be imagined as suit- 
able to such a place, and nothing that need be described. 
Yet we trust that we have said enough to show that this 
department presented a splendid display, and there now 
only remains to add that it made a worthy contribution 
to the treasury. The Jewelry Stall returned $19,764.84, 
to which should be added the results of a table of fancy 
goods of the same kinds that we have just indicated, 
which was also under the control of the same committee 
that presided over the jewelry. This auxiliary increased 
the sum returned by $15,879.72. We may also remind 
the reader that the swords in the Arms and Trophies 
Hoorn, whose daily gains we chronicle, were also the 
gifts of jewelers, and so may justly swell the tale of their 
benefactions. 
With this review of the Jewelry Department, we have 
gone quite around the borders of the great hall. The 
floor was occupied by the “Floral Temple,” and by twenty- 
four oval counters, for the most part furnished by church 
societies and associations of ladies. Here the Genius of 
fancy fairs established for this time his nondescript king- 
dom. It was a realm of bewildering profusion, where one 
was smothered with afghans and sofa pillows, buried amid 
pincushions, tidies, and glove-boxes, and triumphed over 
by wax-dolls and fate-ladies. It was a true region of the 
indescribable, and those who went in to spy out the land, 
if they came back at all, came with no report. We shall 
therefore not venture again to give the topography of this 146 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
kingdom, but shall content ourselves by recording from 
day to day such items concerning it as appeared in the 
journals of the time. The beginning of that task, how- 
ever, we defer till the morrow, and end our gossip of 
Thursday with an article from the “ Spirit ” of this date, 
bearing upon one of the incidents that made talk for peo- 
ple at the Fair. It was startlingly headed,— 
“THE GHOSTS AT UNION SQUARE. 
“ It is a curious fact that one of the most remarkable objects of inter- 
est connected with the Metropolitan Fair, has thus far attracted but little 
notice. The phenomena lately introduced in our city theatres, and called 
1 Ghosts,’ are nightly reproduced in the fountain of Union Square. A 
person standing on the south side of the fountain, and looking north, will 
behold, sometimes one and sometimes a whole procession of male and 
female ghosts rising from the centre of the fountain, and walking to the 
edge of the basin, where they disappear. Sometimes he will see one or 
more ghosts returning and again plunging into the jet whence comes the 
water. 
“ The ghosts do not walk upon the water, but wade through it, and the 
female ghosts appear to do so with great difficulty. Hence these ghosts 
have all the appearance of mermaids and mermen, or, perhaps, they may 
be the veritable ghosts of mermaids and mermen, which, of course, gives 
them a double interest. 
“ The explanation is as follows : — There is on exhibition at the Fair 
buildings, one of Dr. Smith’s ‘ air-lights,’ which is directed upon the 
fountain every night by means of a parabolical silver reflector, four feet 
in diameter. The light is produced by the combustion of lime by the 
concentrated jets of several blow-pipes, in which common gas and air 
only are used. This light, by the way, has been generously loaned and 
maintained at considerable expense by the Smith Air-Light Company. 
“ The spray of the fountain is so brilliantly illuminated, that every object 
or person passing between it and the light casts a shadow on the cloud of 
spray, which is seen only on the opposite side, the person meanwhile be- 
ing invisible. 
“ If a man walks from the building towards the fountain, his head is 
first seen, and his body gradually rises from the water until he reaches 
the basin. He must then turn either to the right or the left to pass 
around it, when, of course, his shadow passes to the edge of the basin 
and disappears. The reason why the ghosts appear to be wading is, that 
the mound of earth around the fountain intercepts the shadow of the 
lower part of the body. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
147 
“ The effect is altogether unintentional, and was discovered on Thurs- 
day night by an official connected with the Fair. 
“ On Saturday night a most astounding apparition appeared. A ghost, 
armed with a mighty sword, (a veritable Excalibur,) rose up, beckoned 
to the crowd to come to him in the water; but as they would not ap- 
proach, he threatened them, but tried in vain to advance. He gave vent 
to his rage by a pantomimic display of how he would cut every one to 
pieces, if successful in catching them. Many other remarkable spectres 
appeared, but we have not room to describe them. 
“ No extra charge is made for seeing the ghosts, and visitors may re- 
turn to the buildings (also without extra charge,) after having satisfied 
their curiosity.” 
This article brought the ghosts into public notice, 
and their succeeding performances were uniformly well 
attended. 
We said that this item about the ghosts should end the 
gossip of Thursday; but in the next column of the 
“Spirit” we find a note that we must introduce into a 
postscript. It reminds one of one of the drawbacks to 
pleasure at the Fair, which merely showed that infallibil- 
ity was not among the attributes of those who planned 
the great show. As is not uncommon, the appeal for a 
remedy, which is headed “A letter to Mr. Bierstadt,” is not 
addressed to the original offender. But then it will be 
evident that accuracy is not the strong point of this pro- 
duction. It runs : — 
“ Dear Mr. Bierstadt, admirable ‘painter and true patriot: Listen ! 
We do so want to hear the Indians, and the wigwams, and the wampum, 
and the shuffle-dance, and the medicine-jig, and to hear the war-whoop, 
and to be scalped ; would n’t you be so very good as to have the windows 
opened in your beautiful skin palace, so that we could see and yet live. 
We will sacrifice our lives, if it be necessary ; but, if not, please let in a 
little oxygen for our sakes. 
“ All the Ladies of your Acquaintance.” 
We repeat that the author of this pleasant note is 
about as accurate in statement as the great Mrs. Nickleby. 
The “ Wigwam ” was provided with windows after the 148 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
fashion of that cabin in the Norse story, where the car- 
penters had “ forgotten to make them,” so that the griev- 
ance was almost beyond redress. At the worst, however, 
this state of things was not to last long, not even so 
long as the Fair. Fate was preparing an escape from 
difficulties, different from that contemplated by the fair 
petitioners, which we shall unfold in its due place among 
events. 
FRIDAY, APRIL 15. 
On opening the newspapers of this morning, we found 
that Thursday had been a bright and lovely day, the first 
such in the week. As a consequence, the crowd at the 
Fair was great, one of the greatest that had yet been 
seen. It was said that there were more than thirty thou- 
sand visitors during the day and evening, and not at all 
to our surprise we find all the possible epithets that can 
be applied to a jam or crush are in the papers of this 
date. The “ sword vote,” however, was not much larger 
than that of the day before. It somehow did not keep 
pace with the attendance, nor with the excitement wdiich 
it is represented as causing. It may have been that the 
police had not yet restrained that exuberance of interest 
which we yesterday intimated might have been a hinder- 
ance to its own proper expression. However that may 
have been, this apparent occultation was but temporary, 
and ceased with Thursday. The figures for that day 
were — 
The number of votes east was 677 
Making the total vote 8,395 
Of which General McClellan had received .... 4,370 
General Grant, 3,979 
Scattering, 46 
8,395 
General McClellan had therefore 391 votes more than 
General Grant. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
149 
One gentleman wrote in the subscription book, so that 
it covered a hundred votes, the following extract from 
McClellan’s letter to Halleck, which begged that the order 
to evacuate the Peninsula might be rescinded, and that he 
might be allowed another advance on Richmond : — 
“McClellan to halleck. 
“ Headquarters, Army of the Potomac, ) 
Aug. 4, 1862. \ 
“ Clear in my convictions of right, strong in the consciousness that I 
have ever been and still am actuated solely by the love of my country, 
knowing that no ambitious or selfish motives have influenced me from the 
commencement of the war, I do now what I have never done before — I 
entreat that this order may be rescinded.” 
This counted as more than one seventh of all the votes 
cast during the day, and afforded a precedent which was 
afterwards followed by many people. Now it serves to 
remind us how high disputes sometimes ran in 1864, upon 
the merits of the two men who were the involuntary and 
unconsulted contestants in this matter of the swords. 
In the Cattle Department on Thursday there was an 
auction sale of a fast trotting mare, Lady Woodruff, 
who still lives in the memory of admirers of fast horses. 
The sale brought in eighteen hundred dollars to the 
Fair, and within ten minutes of its conclusion the buyer 
of Lady Woodruff resold her for two thousand dollars. 
Was there in this transaction any of that sharpness that 
is apt to attend upon dealings in horse-flesh ? 
At the Children’s Department gymnastics had proved 
abundantly entertaining to the little folk, and for this 
afternoon they were promised “ Punch and Judy ” from 
the Academy of Music, and learned dogs from the Hip- 
potheatron. These shows for children had been subject 
to so much intrusion from grown-up season ticket-holders, 
who on occasion had even crowded out the rightful oc- 
cupants of the seats, that a new arrangement had been 
carried into effect for one day, and promised to secure 150 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
to the children peaceful possession of their own proper 
ground. The room was to be cleared of loungers and 
buyers by half-past two o’clock in the afternoon; chil- 
dren, however, might remain in, and were to be admitted 
after that hour without charge. As to those who could 
be fairly counted as having passed the bounds of child- 
hood, if accompanied by children they were admitted 
for twenty-five cents, if not, they had to pay fifty cents, 
or turn back. 
There were announced this morning plenty of outside 
benefits for the Sanitary Commission. On Friday even- 
ing, “Pomp of Cudjo’s Cave,” at the Old Bowery Theatre ; 
“ Cinderella,” on Saturday afternoon, at Niblo’s Garden; 
at the same place, in the evening, Edwin Booth in the 
“Iron Chest,” and “Katherine and Petruchio;” and at 
Niblo’s Saloon, on Monday, where the French company 
was then playing “ Tous les Mardis, Jeudis, et Samedis,” 
some tableaux vivants, under the direction of the Fair Com- 
mittee on public amusements. Add to these that the 
Stereoscopticon at Hope Chapel threw open its doors to 
holders of season tickets to the Fair, — just as if their lib- 
erties needed an extension, — and that the Hippotheatron 
was all the time laying by a percentage of its receipts, 
as we have before said, and we are forced to conclude, 
that this must have been the high tide of success for our 
charity. 
Just as it has reached this pinnacle of favor and 
ubiquity, we find the announcement that on Thursday 
morning the Executive Committee held a meeting and 
decided that the Fair should close on Saturday evening, 
April 23d. There should be one or two twenty-five cent 
days before the exhibition should finally shut its doors ; 
there would be also an auction sale of the pictures and 
works of art, in the Picture Gallery, none of which were 
to be disposed of at private sale. The total receipts, as 
far as they could be got at, were announced to be about UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
151 
$825,000, or already more than the three greatest fairs 
previously held had together made. We were once in- 
structed that if the strength of the elephant were to its 
size in proportion of that of the horn-beetle, it would be 
able to overturn great masses of rock. We regard these 
gains of the Fair as great; but if they had been propor- 
tioned to the gains of one little stand whose returns were 
exhibited alongside the grand aggregate in the columns 
of the “Tribune,” the Fair might have sustained without 
other aid the whole sanitary charity of the war. That 
little stand was the one already mentioned as such a 
flourishing department of the Curiosity Shop — the one 
where the horse-shoe machine turned out the tiny horse- 
shoes, which were sold, for good luck, at five cents apiece. 
On Monday of this week, this busy little worker had 
taken in $147 ; on Tuesday $126 ; on Wednesday 
and Thursday like sums. The good genius which is 
supposed to reside in horse-shoes, and keep away evil 
from any house that bears the charmed curve, certainly 
blessed this manufacture. 
Following our expressed purpose of chronicling from 
day to day such items as appeared relative to the tables 
in the middle of the main hall, we commence as it hap- 
pens with stand No. 10. The New Bedford Marine Table. 
We must first stop to explain in regard to these lesser 
departments, that no distinct character belong to the 
most of them, that no detailed description of them ex- 
ists, that no reports of them were made out, and that 
consequently only the most cursory notice of a few 
stands is now possible. We do not indeed think that 
any thing more is to be desired, but if any one holds a 
contrary opinion we beg to assure him that be our will 
never so good, it is out of our power to oblige him. The 
New Bedford Table, however, was one of those which had 
a character of its own, and we may add, a grievance of its 
own. Not a very great grievance, to be sure, but one 152 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
which found its way into print, and so has survived the 
slips of memory and come down to these latter days. 
There were three ladies of New Bedford, who generously 
determined that that old whaling town should be repre- 
sented at the Metropolitan Fair, and so they set to work 
collecting materials, and then applied for a place in the 
great building. And here came in their difficulty. From 
some cause or other they met nothing but discourage- 
ment from those who, says the print referred to, “ ought 
to have rejoiced to aid them.” But this want of favor 
did not last always, and we dare say was forgotten by 
the patriotic ladies themselves, as soon as they were 
fairly established in Fourteenth Street. But they had 
to work to overcome obstacles, and the little story of 
their perseverance, which only exists, in fewer words 
than we have given it, in the faithful “ Spirit,” is the 
sum and end of their grievance. As for the character 
of their table, it was revealed in its name — marine. 
The stores were chiefly of sea shells in great variety ; 
rare and beautiful Volutas, and the commoner kinds, 
singly, in cases, and arranged according to every turn 
of the nautical fancy. Delicate and tiny shells made 
up into bouquets with sea-weeds, and encased in shell 
frames; shell boxes, and vases and cottages, and perhaps 
even more marine in character than these, because 
redolent of tropical lands from which the sailors bring 
home such curiosities and such stones, exquisite bou- 
quets of birds’ feathers, rich and glowing as gems in 
their hues, and set in the cooler brilliancy of shells. 
There were other things at this table, but all belonging 
in some way to the sea. A beautiful little whale-boat, 
with coils of rope, harpoons, lances, sheath-knife and 
every thing complete, the work of an old whaler; a bark 
blanket from the Feejee Islands; bows and poisoned 
arrows from the New Guinea coast; a bit of Plymouth 
rock, irreverently styled by some one “New England’s UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
153 
Blarney Stone ; ” and so on to marine paintings by a 
marine artist. Any one who could stop to think amid 
the hurry and bustle of the Fair, might have found it 
pleasant to linger over this table, for it was like a breath 
of cool salt air finding its way into the heat and crowd 
of city streets, and was likely enough to stimulate a 
fanciful man into a little revery of ships, and of distant 
lands, which 
“ Fortunate countries of the fire-fly, 
Swarm with blue diamonds all the sultry night, 
And the immortal moon takes turn with them.” 
If New Bedford may be esteemed happy in being able 
to give so unique a contribution, the Fair was happy in 
the widespread sympathy in its work that was repre- 
sented by this and other tables on the main floor. There 
were Buffalo, Owego, Ohio, and Norwalk tables, besides 
some that were furnished by places nearer to New York: 
Staten Island, Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester, Harlem, 
Dobbs’ Ferry and Tarry town. These stands were like 
so many helping hands stretched out by friends who 
felt too kind an interest in our work to stand by and 
look on its progress in silence and idleness. For their 
generous and graceful assistance these friends deserved 
hearty thanks, and doubtless have had them from that 
best possible source — the soldiers, whose wounds and 
disease they help to lighten and cure. 
The Buffalo Table we spoke of some days ago, as emp- 
tied of its wares. Buffalo, as well as New Bedford, had 
a specialty: while the East sent ocean-shells and sea- 
weeds, the West sent mementos of a people who are 
fast fading towards the setting sun, but who have left 
here and there traces of their life. Near Buffalo there 
is still left a feeble remnant of an Indian tribe, and 
it was their handiwork which formed the interesting 
portion of the Buffalo Table. Every visitor to Niagara 154 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
remembers the shops of Indian curiosities which invite 
one’s attention at every turn, and how, at least before 
photography and stereoscopic views were invented, the 
souvenirs brought away from the great Falls were always 
the work of those dusky sons of the soil, who hung about 
Goat Island, and importuned folk to buy twisted canes 
and horse-hair rings. The Buffalo Table with its baskets 
and bead-work, its birch-bark and colored quilts, was a 
reminder of pleasant days at Niagara, and of the race 
whose latest traces linger in that frontier land between 
the two lakes, Erie and Ontario. We do not remember 
that any of the other tables contributed by “ out of 
town ” reminded one of any thing but industry and kind- 
ness, generosity and taste — that much they all did. At 
the Westchester Table, however, there was a lace shawl 
that had its season of notoriety, being bought for a 
thousand dollars and given back to the Fair to realize 
again a like sum. And at the Harlem Table, which was 
in part furnished by the Convent of the Sacred Heart, 
there were some objects of suggestive interest, such as 
the exquisite needle-work of the nuns, and some fine 
jewels that had come to the convent with a Spanish 
lady who there took the veil, and renounced such 
vanities. 
The stands which we have enumerated were not the 
only ones which were filled by associations in other 
cities and villages. The New Jersey Department, as we 
have already shown, represented many places ; and in 
Union Square there were yet other collections from abroad. 
Nor can we forget the beautiful collection of minerals 
which represented the generosity of two localities, and 
of which we shall soon have more to say. Indeed, the 
many stalls which were filled by friends at a distance, 
as well as the individual gifts which came pouring in 
from the North, the South, the East, and the West, were 
such an abundant illustration of that widespread in- UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
155 
terest in the Fair, to which we referred at the beginning 
of this chronicle, that we cannot help dwelling for a few 
moments on the agreeable theme offered. Fortunately 
there are at hand words other than our own for this 
purpose. There was a committee on contributions from 
without the city, and the report of its labors and achieve- 
ments, now before us, furnishes a pleasant confirmation 
of our tale. It was mainly through the exertions of this 
committee that New Jersey decided to take part in the 
Metropolitan Fair. Pennsylvania was almost persuaded 
to follow in the wake of New Jersey, when the decision 
was formed to hold a great central fair of her own. As 
it was, the Quaker State had a stall in Union Square. 
The report then speaks of its labors in other quarters. 
Most towns of any size had already held or were about 
to hold, fairs of their own. Buffalo, by the way, had held 
two in aid of the Sanitary Commission ; and so the main 
part of the New York Fair was the work of New York 
people. Still others had helped, and that generously; 
and the report goes on to say : — 
“ Your committee received contributions from eighty-two persons, 
churches and societies; and the fact that these came from every loyal 
State is, more than their value, indicative of the pride the country takes 
in its metropolis, and of that unity of patriotism which the war has 
produced throughout the law-abiding portions of the Republic. . . . 
“ The correspondence of your committee was one of its most agree- 
able experiences. Little churches would send their humble collection, 
or their box of toilet articles, with a prayer that God would bless our 
soldiers. Children sent, now a barrel of moss, now a coop of chickens, 
now some tatting collars, saying that it was all they had, but the soldiers 
were welcome to it, and sometimes promising to tight as soon as they 
were large enough. One old gentleman, who had lost a son in the 
war, sent some walking-sticks cut by himself where he used to climb 
to gaze southward, and fancy that he saw the final victory; another 
sent a little money from the effects of his beloved hero; and another 
sent some boot-jacks made from the work-bench of his fallen son, 
saying, that after their sons their all belonged to their country. Some- 
times an article would arrive • anonymously, being a personal ornament, 
or a ribbon, made into a pin-cushion or pen-wiper, from the dress of 156 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
some modest female. The ladies of Hartford sustained a department by 
themselves. Rutland sent a pure white block of its finest statuary marble. 
Massachusetts sent specimens of her sea-shells, and Rhode Island of her 
fabrics. The Empire State was represented by contributions of every 
variety, from the Mammoth Ox to the tiniest Shetland, from the mowing- 
machine to the pin. When letters accompanied any of these contribu- 
tions, the most enthusiastic vein of patriotism sparkled through them; 
whilst the general temper of the people, manifested in the grand 
results of the Metropolitan Fair, the greatest unchartered charity of 
the world, showed how sincerely they love every one who stands for 
the country.” 
Taking this testimony in connection with what we 
have said before regarding the generosity of “ out of 
town,” we believe that those kind friends need from us 
no further tribute either of praise or description. The 
memory of their graceful deeds needs little to keep it 
alive, and we have still to speak of the equal dili- 
gence, zeal, and devotion which inspired people and 
societies at home as well as abroad. In this chaos land, 
this Shinar plain of the main floor, there were tables fur- 
nished by city churches, by societies, and by committees 
and individuals. The Episcopal Church of the Resur- 
rection had charge of Stand No. 4, while numbers 5 and 
6 were respectively cared for by Rev. Mr. Gantz’s Church, 
and by St. Matthew’s, Lutheran ; No. 7 was Baptist, and 
so on in friendly oblivion of differences. No. 17 belonged 
to Welsh Churches; 20 was Methodist; 26 and 27 were 
Presbyterian, and 28 Reformed Dutch. Besides these 
tables there were churches which gave money, while all 
gave help in some way or other. Then there was the 
table of the New York Turnverein, and of the Seventh 
Precinct Police, (the policemen had already, before the 
opening of the Fair, contributed $4,000 in money,) a 
table devoted to hats, caps, and furs, one to china and 
glass, one to perfumery and drugs, one to children’s 
clothing, two to English cloths, and four are marked 
on the list as given up to “fancy goods.” We confess UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
157 
ourselves puzzled by this last designation. Out of 
more than thirty tables we should have found it hard 
to name half a dozen that were not covered, loaded 
down and tyrannized over by fancy goods. What en- 
viable preeminence of fancy may have characterized 
these four stands we cannot now tell; and in the hope 
that the exact titles they bore may enable some happier 
mortal to discriminate between them, and set them 
apart from the crowd of the less fanciful, we transcribe 
their proper designation from the “ Spirit.” No. 21, 
was “Wholesale Fancy Goods;” No. 24, “Fancy Goods 
and Wax-work ; ” No. 29, “ Fancy Goods — 4Excelsior ” 
No. 31, “ Parisian Fancy Goods.” 
There were things beautiful and costly at all these 
stands; no one doubts that ; and here and there one 
picks out something that one likes to remember. But 
we cannot now name more than one such. There was 
a flower-stand- surmounted by a bird-cage, all most curi- 
ously framed in rustic fashion from laurel boughs and 
roots. It was at once intricate and attractive; and upon 
examination one found that it had a claim upon atten- 
tion beyond that of its beauty. It was the work of a 
policeman who had spent upon it the leisure time of 
a whole year; and when it was finished, he would do 
nothing with this precious memorial of so many hours 
but give it to the “unchartered charity.” We said a 
moment ago that we could name but one of the many 
memorable belongings of this bewildering middle realm. 
We restricted ourselves too closely ; and we wish now 
to mention, barely, some gifts that showed how pa- 
triotism glowed beneath the snows of age. The Wax- 
work Table, which we just now classed among the most 
sacred shrines of the fanciful, had two of these gifts. 
One a silk quilt, representing a flag, made by a lady 
seventy years old ; the other an eagle, carved and 
gilded by a gentleman whose years were fourscore and 158 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
four. At another table was a sheet woven by an old 
lady of Rhinebeck, who had herself pulled the flax for 
it thirty-five years before, and had just woven it at 
the age of eighty-nine years. This old lady must have 
been born just as the war of the Revolution was break- 
ing out, had passed her youth amid the earliest strug- 
gles of the young Republic, and now, in the last year 
of the Rebellion, was still able to work for the country 
whose life had been no longer than her own. But the 
Fair was able to boast the work of at least one older lady, 
who sent from Bridgeport twenty-four toilet-mats knit 
in gores of divers colors. This last lady was ninety-one 
years old, and so far as we hear was the oldest contrib- 
utor represented. Since we have already transgressed 
our limits, we will continue our gossip for a few linger- 
ing moments. At the Wax-work Table, twice alluded to, 
was an anchor of hair, made up with considerable latitude 
of choice from locks of Washington, Scott, Dickinson, 
Dix, Anderson, Bancroft, Sandford, and Fremont, — (a 
lady, whose hero worship had already so wide a scope, 
need not have scrupled to have enlarged her borders 
so as to include Artemus Ward and even Josh Billings.) 
But this wonder of eclecticism was eclipsed by the famous 
“hairy eagle” which hung from one of the heavy piers 
near the Floral Temple. It was an eagle resting upon 
a globe, and surmounted by a wreath, all made up of the 
hair of President Lincoln, Vice-President Hamlin, Secre- 
taries Seward, Chase, Welles, and Usher, and about twenty 
of the prominent Senators. This eagle was destined for 
the President, and a subscription book was kept open at 
a stand just under the eagle. It was so popular that 
four hundred dollars were subscribed within the first 
three days of the Fair. After that we miss any accurate 
statement of the success of this eagle, but frequent al- 
lusions to it in the daily prints show that it continued 
famous. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
159 
A rarity at the Lutheran Table was a shawl made of 
fibres of the century plant. A rough rarity at the Hat, 
Cap, and Fur Stand was the smallest lion ever exhibited, 
being but eight inches high and a few hours old. Here 
wrere also some very costly sables, and neither costly or 
rare, but only convenient, here were sold orders on the 
principal hatters of the city. As all their styles were 
here represented, one had here the advantage of visiting 
all their shops at once. 
The Floral Temple is now the one remaining stand of 
the middle realm. That we will leave till to-morrow, 
with our final notices of the Fourteenth Street building. 
As for the receipts of the stands we have just no- 
ticed, we have prefered to lump them together, for easy 
comparison, and to save the too frequent recurrence of 
dollars and cents among matters of sentiment and rec- 
ollection. And with these figures we shall close our 
account of this day. 
Table. 
No. 1. New York Turnverein $1,039.50 
2. Hats, Caps, and Furs 10,930.35 
3. China and Glass 5,265.20 
4. Episcopal Church of the Resurrection 755.00 
5. Rev. Mr. Gantz’s Church 1,042.29 
6. St. Matthew’s, Lutheran 1,093.20 
7. Baptist 1,432.60 
8. Buffalo 500.00 
9. Owego 1,140.24 
10. New Bedford 1,000.00 
11. Seventh Precinct Police 711.00 
12. Ohio 2,340.20 
13. Staten Island 3,370.04 
14. Dobbs’ Ferry and Tarry town. 442.00 
15. Hastings-on-Hudson 665.00 
16. Norwalk 1,565.00 
17. Welsh National Society 5,210.05 
18. Westchester 2,312.00 
19. Harlem . 3,584.11 
20. Methodist 8,103.41 160 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
Table. 
No. *21. 'Wholesale Fancy Goods $4,918.00 
22. English Cloths 4,331.64 
f 23. do. do 131.65 
24. Perfumery and Drugs 1,262.00 
25. Fancy Goods and Wax-work 1,314.69 
t 26. Presbyterian Church 907.00 
§ 27. do. do 917.60 
** 28. Reformed Dutch 
29. Fancy Goods — “ Excelsior ” 1,345.00 
30. Children’s Clothing 3,196.53 
ft 31. Parisian Fancy Goods 4,500.00 
SATURDAY, APRIL 16. 
Yesterday had been a pleasant day, and, naturally 
enough, the Fair had been crowded. The “ sword con- 
test ” too had been lively, and had resulted in nearly 
as many votes as had been registered in the two days 
preceding. The whole number cast was 1,242, so that 
the account stood : — 
For General McClellan, 5,062 
For General Grant, 4,529 
Scattering, 46 
Total, 9,637 
General McClellan’s majority was therefore 533. We 
recorded yesterday the casting of a hundred votes by an 
enthusiastic partisan, who wrote in the books an extract 
from General McClellan’s letter to Halleck begging for 
another chance at Richmond; that feat was outdone on 
Friday by a gentleman of opposite belief, who covered 
one hundred and sixty votes with these lines: — 
* The names of the stalls are taken from the “ Spirit,” page 63. The 
amounts set opposite them are from the Treasurer’s Report, where the tables 
are in several cases differently named, as: — * Thread and Small Ware. 
Swiss. X Church Second Avenue and Fourteenth Street. § Dr. Thomp- 
son’s Church. ** Reformed Dutch is somehow absent from the report by name, 
we suppose being included under some other name, ff Edward Mathews. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
161 
“ Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862. 
“ 15,000 prisoners, 146 guns, 15,000 stand of arms. Grant to Buck- 
ner — I propose to move immediately on your works.” 
“ Vicksburg, July 4, 1862. 
“ 37,000 prisoners, arms and ammunition for 60,000 men.” 
“ Chattanooga, November 24-26, 1863. 
“ 6,142 prisoners, 5 pieces of artillery, 69 artillery carriages and cais- 
sons, 7,000 stand of arms.” 
We find by one of the journals of this morning, that 
we did not give all the credit to “ out of town ” that it 
deserved. But it is not too late to rectify that mistake, 
and refer once again to the Wax-work Table, which seems 
determined to revenge itself on us for having classed 
it among the undistinguishable. It turns out that this 
stand was made up in great measure from contributions 
of Binghampton ladies. Putting these gifts together 
with that from the Binghampton Fire Department, and 
we must confess that to overlook so kind friends had 
been an unpardonable error. Friends from greater dis- 
tances were brought to mind to-day by the announcement 
that some fresh packages had come from Switzerland, 
and from Huddersfield in Yorkshire, where sympathy 
with the cause of the North was found enough to make 
up a gift worth £457. The mention of foreign money 
reminds us that just at this time gold was violently fluct- 
uating in the market from 165 to 185, and that Congress 
was debating a bill for keeping it at a regular and reason- 
able rate. Whether it was the effect of this legislation 
or not we cannot say, but immediately after the passage 
of the bill gold went flying up, up, until it finally reached 
280. During the Fair, however, this bill was only pend- 
ing, but still gold was so high that all foreign contribu- 
tions when converted into American figures wore an air 
of magnificence, especially if they had been originally 
valued in pounds sterling, and had to be multiplied by 
ten instead of by five as in the old times. 162 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
It was this morning announced that the children of 
the Public Schools were to be given an opportunity for 
seeing the great Fair. During the last week of exhibition 
a certain portion of each day was to be set apart for the 
children, who were to be marched through the several 
departments, and when they had been paraded about for 
an hour and three quarters they were to be dismissed 
all together, and the doors opened to the grown-up world. 
In order to prevent overcrowding, certain wards were 
allotted to the several days of the week; as, for Monday, 
the Ninth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth; for Tuesday, the 
First, Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth Wards; 
and so on through the week. The children of the Public 
Schools had been generous to the Fair, and have yet to 
receive a particular tribute at our hands by way of sup- 
plement to the occasional mention we have had to make 
of concerts and shows of all kinds, — the children’s bene- 
factions. When we come to speak of these things, we shall 
have more to say about the children’s visits. 
In one of the papers we find a call for a twenty-five 
cent day; but as the Executive Committee had already 
promised that, and published their promise, there was 
no need of being urgent in preferring such a request. 
This day, Saturday, April 16th, 1864, is memorable 
in a sad way. The papers of this morning published 
the first accounts of the massacre at Fort Pillow. We 
were at that time accustomed to hear of momentous 
events; — we wrere so likely to be startled by any new 
paper that we might take up, and we were so inured to 
the ordinary chances of war, terrible as they were, that 
we had learned to reserve our emotion for things that 
should touch us nearly. Not that we had become in- 
different to loss or to pain, but every one will recollect 
how we had come to bear with a sort of hopeful stoicism 
the inevitable news of death and disaster, and to be, in 
a way, chary of our indignation. But the news from UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
163 
Fort Pillow was too much even for that forbearance 
which was so noble an element in the strength of the 
North ; the words of wrath would be spoken, and even 
after we had covered it up, we did not at once forget 
the hurt then dealt to us. We seem to forget now, but 
on the current Saturday in 1864, we had just heard the 
horrible story, and many at the Fair that day were sad- 
dened, or hard with anger, and between them and the 
crowd and bustle, the display, and the buying and selling, 
there came constantly the thought of those wounded men 
who were killed in their helplessness, and of that hospital, 
one of the objects for which this brilliant scene was called 
into existence, where sick men were shot in their beds. 
It was all hard to think of then, though now we can 
put it away so easily, and it formed a much more prom- 
inent part of the day at the Fair than it can in our 
narrative. For our present part we have to go back upon 
our footsteps, and glean in Fourteenth Street. In other 
words we have made a circuit of the Fair building, but 
we have left many things unnoticed. It shall be the 
duty of the day to make up for past omissions, as far 
as possible, and then give the last week to Union Square, 
and to matters relating in a general way to the Fair. 
And first there is the Floral Temple, the most promi- 
nent point in the great hall, the centre around which 
eddied that busy stream of life, the brightest spot in that 
wonderful realm of the fanciful, filled with rare and 
lovely flowers, and attended every evening with self-sac- 
rificing regularity, by a bevy of ladies, universally con- 
fessed to be the most beautiful of that higher society of 
which New York is proud. It was an elliptical struct- 
ure, about thirty feet long: there were double columns, 
outer and inner, all around, entwined with evergreens 
and flowers, and supporting green arches and a frieze 
bearing the names of battles then celebrated, the letters 
of immortelles standing out brilliantly against the cool, 164 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
dark leafage behind. There was Gettysburg in crim- 
son flowerSj a “ blood-red blossom of war; ” Antietam in 
blue and white ; Roanoke in yellow and white, and so 
on. To give them in the order they stood in, the names 
ran thus around the Temple : — 
GETTYSBURG, 
FORT DONELSON, 
PORT HUDSON, 
PORT ROYAL, 
SHILOH, 
ANTIETAM, 
VICKSBURG, 
NEW ORLEANS, 
ROANOKE, 
CHATTANOOGA. 
The Temple had a smaller temple, a sort of cupola, for 
a crown, and winding up to it a spiral staircase, com- 
pletely encased in flowers. And high above the rafters 
were heavy with fragrant evergreens, while two galleries 
spanned the hall, running above the Temple, filled with 
boughs, and draped with festoons and hanging baskets, 
and bunches of flowers. As for the Temple itself, it was 
kept full to overflowing with fresh flowers, rare plants, 
singing-birds, butterflies, and aquaria, and was all the time 
as brilliant and luxuriant as a tropical thicket. Of course 
such a display implied constant generosity and some 
management; but few could know what labor and liber- 
ality were employed here unless they had been in some 
measure behind the scenes. The report of the Floral 
Department lets us somewhat into the secret, and from it 
we are able to tell all that now need be known. A circu- 
lar asking for contributions in flowers was sent some time 
before the Fair to all owners of green-houses, public or 
private, within twelve hours of New York, so far as their 
addresses could be obtained. “ Appeals for plants, aqua- 
ria, birds, butterflies, and all kinds of rustic stands and 
hanging baskets were also made, and for seeds, roots, and 
bulbs, even as far as California, the West Indies, New 
Orleans, &c ” Then a week before the Fair a second 
series of letters wrere written to the owners of green- UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
165 
houses, appointing to each one the days when his flowers 
were to be sent, so as to secure, as nearly as possible, an 
equal supply of fresh flowers for each day; and advertise- 
ments were published asking for moss, evergreens, and 
artificial flowers. The city afforded these last in great 
profusion, while from our cousins in the country there 
came no end of boxes and barrels packed with every 
green thing that April woods could yield. As for flowers, 
during the three weeks of the Fair, they came in daily 
abundance “from Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, Bal- 
timore, Rochester, Hartford, Providence, Bridgeport and 
Newport, from Troy and Albany, and the green-houses 
that line the Hudson River, from the towns along the 
Sound, from Long Island and Staten Island, and, it is be- 
lieved, from every florist in New York City. Particular 
mention should be made of New Jersey, whose floral gifts 
wrere so liberal that two arches of the Temple were as- 
signed for their contributions, which were waited upon by 
New Jersey ladies, and it was estimated that from them 
came one fifth of our receipts.” “ The Germans also 
were distinguished for large and tasteful donations in 
flowers, rustic work, &c.” Of course it will be understood 
that these quotations are from the report referred to, and 
they serve sufficiently to reveal the kindness and the 
labor that went to make up that beautiful display. It 
should also be remembered that the Fair came just at 
that time in the spring when Nature seems to be tak- 
ing a rest between the ending of one year’s stores and 
production and the beginning of another. Hot-house 
flowers were few at this season ; they had done their 
work of enlivening the winter, and the gardens as yet 
could boast but a sprinkling of hardy crocuses and vio- 
lets. So the daily profusion of bloom at the Fair was 
really something wonderful, or was only saved from 
being that by the consideration of the kind zeal there 
was everywhere to do something for those who suffered 166 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
in defending the canse of our country. The whole Fair 
is an evidence of such willingness even to make sacrifices 
for its object, that we cannot wonder at any special man- 
ifestation of generosity which it called forth. 
Perhaps we should add — at any rate we wish to — 
that among the beautiful things at the Temple were some 
Sea Island flowers and plants sent from Beaufort, S. C., 
and a cocoa-nut palm that was among the famous objects 
of interest at the Fair. Having said this much, it only 
remains to tell that the receipts of the Floral Department, 
after paying all expenses, were $6,769.61. 
Between the Roman and the Jewelry Stalls was an 
entrance to a passage leading out back of the Restaurant 
to a building set apart for carriages, farming utensils, and 
mathematical instruments. This building was so far out 
of the way that very few visitors got to it. It was, in 
short, one of the mistakes of the Fair, and seems to have 
exercised a very depressing influence upon the several 
committees that were to have occupied it. It was as 
good as a haunted house for getting rid of its tenants. 
The Carriage Committee became faint-hearted in view of 
those quarters. They would not ask for contributions 
which they could not display, and makers would not send 
carriages to be visited only by the dust. The workmen 
of one establishment, however, made a very splendid car- 
riage and sold it at their employers’ show-rooms, and 
another gift of a phaeton was exchanged for $1,000 in 
money. But for the most part gifts were withdrawn, and 
we find no further trace of them. As for the mathemati- 
cal instruments, they fled the gloomy precincts, and took 
up their abode with the optical glasses and surgeons’ 
knives in the cheerful bustle of the great hall, while the 
farming implements seem to have succumbed entirely 
to the malign influences of obscurity, for we find no trace 
of them beyond the notice in the “ Spirit” that they be- 
longed in the Carriage Department. There is but one 167 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
certain good result that has reached us out of this region 
of darkness, and that is the credit given the Carriage 
Committee on the treasurer’s lists, — $2,961.10. It is said 
that this is only a small part of what the credit would 
have been, if—if ivhat we cannot say, for a doubt ob- 
scures even the causes of failure in the dim department. 
So we can only leave the quarter with the knowledge 
that somehow Fortune could not find her way into that 
back building, and for consolation we can remember that 
the uncertain goddess was for once a tolerably reliable 
friend to most of the departments we have visited, and 
frequented them with unusual constancy. 
Another out-of-the-way building, which, however, fared 
better than this last, was that appropriated to cattle. It 
was on Fifteenth Street, near to Seventh Avenue, and its 
uses were set forth in a huge sign, that could be read half 
a mile off, “The Cattle Department of the Sanitary Fair.” 
We mentioned yesterday the sale of “Lady Woodruff,” 
which took place here. Her ladyship was the most valu- 
able property of the department, but it had other things 
worth looking at, some of which were not unknown to 
fame. There was the great ox, weighing thirty-six hun- 
dred pounds, presented by some ladies of Livingston 
County, and called the “ Pride of Livingston.” A huge 
creature, milk-white in color, and six feet four inches in 
height. Then, while everybody was admiring the vast 
proportions of this monster, came another, its peer, to 
share its glory. Tompkins County thought herself not 
behind any other county in fat cattle, and not to be out- 
done in generosity any more than in the size of her oxen. 
She, or her ladies acting in her name, sacrificed her 
“Pride” on the altar of charity. This second mammoth 
w7as not, in truth, quite so large as the first, weighing 
only thirty-five hundred and forty pounds, but its propor- 
tions were thought to be more beautiful. It was of pure 
Durham lineage, and of a peculiar silver roan color, 168 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
which everybody with easy connoisseurship said was a 
rare excellence in a Durham ox. There were other fine 
oxen, but these were the lions of the season, and main- 
tained an easy supremacy among the horned kind. There 
were horses, also, one of them a thorough-bred, captured 
at Newbern, N. C., and three Shetland ponies. Dogs of 
various sizes and degrees, from the Newfoundland to the 
Skye terrier, with another “Secesh” trophy, a bloodhound, 
taken in a raid of General Sherman’s; a dog that had felt 
the chances of war, and had been wounded in the jaw, 
nearly severing his tongue, but was now none the worse 
for wear, unless a touch of docility be counted as deroga- 
tory to the character of a bloodhound. Then there were 
fowls, pigs, rabbits, and sheep, including one with five 
horns, sent by a great showman. 
There was an admission fee of twenty-five cents to this 
department, and that added $709 to its receipts. As all 
the cattle were for sale, we should have said that the 
policy of treating them as objects for exhibition was a bad 
one, had it not resulted in such substantial aid to the Fair, 
as to show that people thought the fat oxen and the five 
horned sheep were worth the money asked to see them. 
We will gladly allow that the animals were all fine creat- 
ures,— in most cases so fine as to serve as show-samples 
of their kind, — and for one reason at least we are thank- 
ful for that admission fee. It caused the appearance in 
one of the daily papers of an item which illustrates, as far 
as it goes, what we have heretofore said about the season 
ticket nuisance. The item was to the effect that on the 
day preceding, the admissions to the Cattle Department 
had brought in about fifteen dollars, besides which some 
four hundred holders of season tickets had gone in free. 
Fifteen dollars would represent sixty paying visitors out 
of four hundred and sixty. If the season ticket-holders 
were present in any thing like the same proportions in 
the Indian and Children’s Departments, it is no wonder UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
169 
that it was found difficult to make them pay. But then 
the cattle-show did not rely upon admission fees for its 
success; it made sales, and so after paying all its ex- 
penses it made over to the treasury $5,141.20. 
Returning once again to the main hall, and mounting 
the stairway to the gallery at the south end, we find one 
or two departments that were somehow passed by in our 
survey of that part of the building. There was a Ladies’ 
Hair-dressing Department, filled with curls, waterfalls, 
chignons, and every thing postiche, which brought in to the 
Fair $518.27. And going up still another flight of stairs 
by the dining-saloon, one found a Photographic Gallery, 
where one might sit for a carte de visile, or buy nice ste- 
reoscopic views of the Fair. We hope that we make par- 
donable exception to our rule of not naming people in 
this little record, when we say that the photographers 
who fitted up this little gallery, and took pictures here, 
were Gurney and Son. Our reason for making this ex- 
ception is, that they also took views of the more striking 
portions of the Fair, some of which are included in this 
volume. The Photographic Gallery returned $456.05. 
We may add now, that the Fourteenth Street building 
had many little stands and shifts for turning honest pen- 
nies, that could scarcely be noticed in a survey at this 
distance of time. There was a Dress-cutting Depart- 
ment, a Fortune-teller, an Umbrella Stand, and many 
such things, which added each something to the great 
whole. Many departments were represented in more 
than one stall, as jewelry and fancy goods, and so it is 
possible that we have sometimes erred, — either giving 
to one stand the credit that was due to two, or men- 
tioning two stands separately, which should have been 
united under the returns of one committee. The one 
such mistake that we have discovered we will rectify 
on the spot. We gave the receipts of the Stand, No. 30, 
of Children’s Clothing, as something over three thousand 170 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
dollars. So far we were right enough ; but the Clothing 
Committee had furnished other stands, and had collected 
a handsome sum of money for the Fair, and we should 
therefore have stated before that the whole gift of this 
Committee was $26,150.49. 
With this last day of the second week, we have gone 
through the last departments of the great building in 
Fourteenth Street, and we can devote the remaining time 
to Union Square, and to such generalizations as may insist 
upon being made. And now as the Saturday night taps 
are beaten, and the gas is turned down, we fix our report- 
er’s eye upon the maze we have been so long trying to 
unravel, and, not without a pang of sentimental regret 
that our search through the labyrinth is over, we notice 
that it seems vaster, more intricate and splendid than it 
did when its boundaries were yet unknown to us. As we 
realize that extent and variety, our attempt at the topog- 
raphy of the Fair seems like an effort to copy all the 
subtle complications in a Cashmere shawl, and, sentiment 
to the contrary notwithstanding, we are after all glad that 
the attempt, such as it is, is behind us rather than before. 
There are a few threads in the web that will yet have to 
be taken up and confined to their place, but the work is 
practically finished, and we turn to that which is left, a 
lighter and shorter task. 
THIRD WEEK. 
MONDAY, APRIL 18. 
The first thing that met our eyes in the morning papers 
of this date, was a notice of the “Cinderella” perform- 
ance on Saturday afternoon. The heartiest praise was 
showered upon the actors, the costumes, the whole brill- 
iant scene. There was the little queen in a brocade 
which had been worn at the drawing-room of Washing- 
ton, in the days of the Republican Court, and a crowd of UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
171 
tiny fine ladies and gentlemen arrayed in all the glory 
of the eighteenth century — peach-blossom coats, and 
powder and patches, for all the world like so many Dres- 
den china figures come to life. Nobody is quite sure that 
Cinderella did really dress like Madame de Pompadour, 
but the anachronism, if it can be called such, only made 
the play the more charming. It was quite as delightful 
as Garrick playing Julius Cmsar or any other ancient in 
a tie-wig. The quaint, pretty, old story; the brilliant cos- 
tumes, all conforming to one period sufficiently antique 
to give them all the grace of distance, and not old enough 
to be ridiculous; the bright faces, and free, childish bear- 
ing of the little actors, combined to make a great suc- 
cess. Indeed, the play was a series of pictures that would 
have ravished the heart of Watteau, who would have gone 
to work at once to paint fetes champetres of cherubs, and 
balls and masquerades of urchins and fays. Indeed, we 
fear that the ball-room scene in “ Cinderella,” with its two 
hundred dancers, all so nicely trained by Mr. Dodworth, 
would be beyond the power of any painter to reproduce; 
the tiny coach with the Shetland ponies might be at- 
tempted, but we do not know who has ever yet succeeded 
in fixing on canvas any thing like the elaborate yet in- 
nocent coquetries, the unsophisticated archness, the un- 
taught grace that had never known awkwardness, of that 
little court, and of those young heroes and heroines of 
romance. Of course the theatre was crowded, and of 
course everybody was delighted, and the results for the 
Sanitary coffers were nearly three thousand dollars. Per- 
haps the best tribute to the brilliancy of this perform- 
ance, was the repetition of “Cinderella” a year later, upon 
the broader scene of the Opera House. We believe, in- 
deed, that the play will prove popular so long as the love 
of children and of beauty remains in the world, and that 
any dramatic author may be happy who has such sure 
elements of success put into his hands. 172 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
In addition to all the other announcements of outside 
aids, we find this morning an advertisement of a concert 
that was to be given on Wednesday evening by the 
united church choirs of the city. The music promised 
was from the Oratorios of Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, 
and Rossini. In the Children’s Department on Saturday, 
there had been a juvenile performance of “Box and Cox,” 
Mrs. Bouncer being rendered, as she would have been on 
Shakespeare’s stage at the Globe Theatre, by a fair and 
blooming boy. After u Box and Cox,” the trained dogs 
were both wonderful and amusing, and we dare say the 
little people were happy. The new arrangement by 
which grown-up folk paid for seats at this entertainment, 
was said to work well. 
After amusement comes business, in our unconventional 
arrangement; and the first business we have to deal with 
now, is one that is often at the end both of work and 
play, viz. — Auctions. On Saturday evening an auction 
was held in the Roman Department, which had been 
nearly emptied of its wares in the regular course of sales. 
As this closing up was not the result of adversity, it was 
oppressed by no failing fortune, and every thing, we are 
told, brought fair prices. With the first evening of the 
new week, auctions were to begin in the Art Gallery, and 
the usual admission fee was to be doubled for these occa- 
sions. 
So it is with indications of the approaching end of the 
Fair, that we enter upon this week. It will doubtless be 
observed how fast these indications increase in number 
and significance. The departments to be commemorated 
are even fewer than the days, and so it may reasonably 
be expected that our visits will be short, and our days 
succeed each other with swiftness. The nearest duty to 
our hand, therefore, is to enter the west wing of the 
Union Square building, and begin our survey. 
It is the International Department that lies before us. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
173 
A beautiful room, ninety feet long, with an open roof, ex- 
posed with all the lacing timbers that supported it. The 
walls and roof are colored a pleasing natural tint, against 
which the brilliant decorations are finely relieved. Flags 
of every nation hang out from the walls on each side, the 
lines broken here and there by the beloved stars and 
stripes. The upper windows are filled with painted screens 
bearing the arms of the nations whose flags hang around. 
The height, the distance, the subdued background flaming 
out into a blaze of color that breaks into a hundred con- 
fused shapes, are the first things that strike the eye. Seen 
at its best, when the afternoon sun, streaming in at the 
upper windows, brightens every hue, and makes the tim- 
bered roof seem full of floating reflections of color, while 
casting a milder radiance upon the gay wares and the 
crowd below, this hall, if not quite a scene of enchant- 
ment, as some newspapers say it is, at least presents a 
brilliant example of a kind of beauty peculiar to our 
time — a beauty such as modern resources and cultivation 
can throw around temporary works. The Crystal Palaces 
of London, of Paris, and New York, were the greatest 
efforts of this kind ; it may be hard to say whereabouts 
in a scale of excellence the Metropolitan Fair would be 
found. Without caring, however, to settle that point, we 
believe it merits a rank, artistically speaking merely, 
among the most beautiful works of the kind and time. 
They cannot be classed under one name — industrial ex- 
hibitions, bazaars, fairs, or what not, but they are often 
beautiful, and possess almost always a moral significance 
that places them far ahead of jousts, tournaments, and a 
great many shows that have made great figure in history 
and romance these many hundred years. But we will not 
institute comparisons which may be odious to ages that 
are past defending themselves. The beauty of the Inter- 
national Department, which we will now speak of in the 
past tense, as easier and shortly inevitable, was one of the 174 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
noticeable things at the Fair, and that is saying enough 
for it. We may add, topographically, one more element 
of that beauty : the centre of the hall was occupied by a 
fountain falling into a basin edged with lovely plants and 
flowers. About this was a circular table for the sale of 
bouquets, shrubs, aquaria, — it was the Floral Department 
of Union Square, and points yet more forcibly what we 
said about the generosity of flower-givers at a time when 
flowers were scarce. 
The first booth in this hall was filled with contributions 
from Switzerland, presided over by Swiss residents of New 
York. It was overhung by the flags and arms of different 
cantons; within sat a peasant>girl at an old-fashioned 
spinning-wheel,—the girl wearing the dress of a different 
canton each day, — and all about were souvenirs of the 
mountain land : watches, cuckoo-clocks, wood carvings, 
photographs of the wonderful scenery. The generous 
Swiss people showed here alike their love of home and 
their love of liberty : their love of home in their choice 
of gifts; their love of liberty in the abundance of them. 
From other countries gifts came chiefly from loyal Ameri- 
cans living abroad ; but the Swiss booth was filled largely 
by the Swiss people, who sent not only of their sub- 
stance, but added the kindest letters, — some in French, 
and some in queer, foreign English, but all alike in the 
good will they expressed. From the watch-making and 
cheese-making Canton of Neuchatel, and from the Yal 
de St. Imier, came a long list of “ dons en nature,” and 
such an array of friendly letters! At Chaux de Fonds 
the ladies would seem to have worked for the Fair just as 
if they had lived on the Hudson within thirty miles of 
New York. They knitted lamp-mats and tidies, sofa 
cushions and purses, and sent their pretty rarities and 
curiosities with a list of names that showed that young 
and old had all helped toward the same end. At Zurich, 
too, they did the same, while help came from many other UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
175 
places. Moreover, their zeal did not wear out easily. 
Even after the Fair was over, there came a box of silks 
from Zurich, and from Geneva another box, containing, 
among many things, one of those costly and wonderful 
pieces of mechanism for which the Calvinistic city has 
some fame — a singing-bird in a box bearing an inscrip- 
tion which set forth that though the bird sang to order, it 
only did so for the benefit of sick and wounded soldiers. 
We have said that most of these gifts came from the 
Swiss, and this was true even of Geneva, a town where 
Americans might be looked for. The Americans, indeed, 
were there, but part of them had brought from their own 
sunny South their southern proclivities, and part of them 
were Northern men with southern opinions; these, too, 
found Europe a pleasant refuge during the war; and at 
Geneva the remainder of loyal Americans was small. But 
the love of good things has not died out of the followers 
of Calvin and Zwingli; and among the things they cher- 
ish is an affectionate sympathy with freedom, even in 
its struggles. So, while there were among them many 
Americans who had lost their respect for the principles 
which made all the greatness of their country, these good 
Swiss were testifying to the universality and permanence 
of those principles, and, if such a thing were possible, 
were shaming the disloyal. 
We said that in other European countries the gifts 
were made up chiefly from Americans living abroad. It is 
necessary to except Germany from this statement. Not 
that Americans in Germany did not contribute to the 
Fair, — so did some in Switzerland, — but a large part of 
the gifts from these two countries came from those who 
only knew America in books and in their dreams. Some 
of the German contributions we have mentioned else- 
where. In the Autograph Department was a book made 
up of the autographs of modern Prussians of eminence, 
most of them professors in the great University of Berlin, 176 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
many of whom added to their names an expression of their 
kind feelings toward America, and hope for her future. 
In the Art Gallery were many pictures from the kind Ger- 
man artists ; and now that we come to the International 
Department, we find that there were many more tokens 
of remembrance from Frankfort and Hamburg, from Dres- 
den and Berlin, from Vienna, Copenhagen, and Rotter- 
dam, if one may include these with the German places. 
They were so included in the booth in Union Square, but 
then that booth represented also Paris and St. Petersburg, 
Madrid, Lisbon, Madeira, Brazil, and Smyrna. A great 
many of the Paris goods went to the New Jersey Depart- 
ment and elsewhere, but they were plentiful enough to 
stock several booths, besides mixing with the miniature 
International Exhibition of this stall. The articles were 
mostly characteristic of the places represented — such 
things as travelers bring home for souvenirs. Perhaps 
most interest attached to the contributions from St. 
Petersburg, from Smyrna, and Brazil, as being out of the 
ordinary line of tourists’ visitations. From Russia came 
gilt bronzes, ornaments representing articles of domes- 
tic use or national interest, — snow and water sleds, the 
Pond or Russian pound weight, the great bell of Moscow, 
— vases of “ Felt,” photographs of Russian costumes, the 
“ Russian Samt,” such as is found in every palace, cottage, 
and hovel, and so on through a number of things, all pe- 
culiar to Russia, and ending with two table luxuries, one 
at least of which seems characteristic of those noblemen 
famed for their rubles and their lavish expenditure. This 
was some “ Flower Tea,” such as sometimes sells for 
seventy-five or a hundred dollars a pound. The other 
article was some Kiiinl, a liquor which is esteemed in 
St. Petersburg above Chartreuse or Maraschino, but which 
rarely makes its way to other countries. The time may 
not be far distant when Kiiml shall be no longer rare; 
and, since tea once sold in England so high as fifty dollars UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
177 
a pound, the “ Flower Tea ” may come to be no longer 
dear, but in the year of grace 1864 they shared attention 
with the “ Russian Saint,” and so are ranked wdth that in 
this place. From Smyrna came Turkish rugs and dresses, 
attar of roses, and almost equally fragrant tobacco, while 
from Brazil there were humming-birds and wreaths and 
bouquets of feather flowers. Hamburg and Smyrna were 
among the untiring givers ; they not only gave gener- 
ously in the beginning, but both sent other contributions 
which came after the Fair was over. 
There was also a booth filled by gifts from loyal 
Americans in England, — mostly from Liverpool. It was 
distinguished by the usual intertwining of national flags, 
and by the arms of England and the banner of the city 
of Liverpool, and was filled with examples of English 
industry and art, from knives and scissors to statuary and 
water-color drawings. One of these last was of Mr. John 
Bright’s house, and as his name was then in the mouths 
of many people here, and as he had really endeared him- 
self to loyal men at the North, there was great rivalry for 
the possession of this picture, as, in some sort, a memento 
of the man. It was finally sold with the pictures in the 
Art Gallery. The gifts of our English friends were not 
included in this stall. We have several times alluded to 
such gifts ; they were found at the Dry Goods Booth, at 
various stands throughout the main hall in Fourteenth 
Street, in the Autograph Department, and now we wish to 
mention one which was not on exhibition at all, but which 
was one of the largest and most famous contributions 
that the Fair received. This was the gift, by an English 
gentleman, of one thousand tons of coal, which were 
delivered on shipboard at Liverpool free of all expense. 
This was already noble, and it was the means of calling 
forth a second act of generosity worthy of the more praise 
in that it received the less mention. When the coal 
reached New York the freight charges amounted to ex- 178 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
actly d£886 155. lid., which, at the price of gold at the 
time, was not far from $8,000. This was paid by a New 
York gentleman, and the coals were afterward sold for 
more than $13,000. 
This payment of freight reminds us that liberality in 
that way toward the Fair was not uncommon. All the 
gifts of loyal Americans in England were sent through 
one or two houses free of cost. All German contributions 
went to Hamburg, and the Steamship Company there 
remitted all charges upon goods consigned to the Fair; 
and where companies were insensible to the claims of 
this charity, there was generally some one who stepped 
forward and was generous in their stead. Our consuls in 
Europe especially, distinguished themselves in this wray, 
which is greatly to be commended in them, as is every 
act of the kind in men from whom their country expects 
a great deal of service for nothing, or so nearly nothing 
that the difference is not worth considering. We may 
also say of our consuls and our ministers, that they were 
generally the agents of the Sanitary Commission abroad. 
They solicited people in its behalf, they called meetings, 
corresponded, and took charge of contributions. Whether 
Americans or Europeans responded to the appeals, it wras 
usually the resident minister or consul who made the call 
and was the representative of our charity. We believe 
that in no case did a letter to any American living abroad 
fail to bring a kind and sympathizing answer, and there 
were few who did not add their earnest efforts, and pro- 
cure some material aid for the Fair. The results we have 
indicated ; not only the booths we have just described in 
the International Department, but there were in Four- 
teenth Street the Roman Table, the many foreign pictures 
in the Art Gallery, autographs, photographs, engravings, 
not only in their respective departments, but scattered 
through all departments, and finally a great number of 
individual gifts of all kinds that cannot be enumerated. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
179 
There is no need of dwelling upon the praise of these 
things, especially as there are home gifts that await recog- 
nition. The International would have been an exclusively 
European Department, if it had not bettered its claim to 
its name by including several American stalls. There 
was one fitted by the Pennsylvania Relief Association, 
representing a generosity that would not be confined 
even to the wide scope offered it by the coming great 
Central Fair at Philadelphia. In this booth, beside its 
regular attractions, was a side show — admittance one 
dime — where was revealed to the wondering eyes of 
little folk a miniature ball-room with tiny dancers. Then 
there was the Ulster County booth, that came to the 
Seventeenth Street building in order to be near the 
Knickerbocker Kitchen, in which the venerable county 
had also a share; and the Hartford booth, with State 
and City banners, and the beautiful old motto of Connec- 
ticut, “ Qui transtulit sustinet .” Here was a piano made 
of the Charter Oak, whose wood seems likely to prove 
as inexhaustible as that of Shakespeare’s mulberry-tree. 
The piano was sold by subscription and given to Gov- 
ernor Buckingham. Here were also specimens of the 
industry and thrift that have made Hartford so famous 
— the rifles and revolvers, willow furniture, foulard silks 
and belt ribbons, that were just then of especial interest 
in consequence of the talk there had been among ladies 
about wearing home goods and so keeping gold in the 
country. There were also daily supplies of election 
cake, which every one who has lived in either of the capi- 
tals of Connecticut will remember, and, finally, as souvenirs 
perhaps of ancient ingenuity, there were nutmeg bracelets 
for sale here. The Park Barracks Association had also a 
booth, for which the ladies of the Association made some 
fancy articles. But the staple of the booth was in com- 
forts that were to go directly to the army hospitals — 
stockings and warm under-clothing. These things were 180 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
sent in from various churches and societies in town and 
country, while many were given by city servants, and 
people who had no time for afghans and tidies, and who 
were only able to give plain things that went straight to 
the need that was to be supplied. 
Beside these booths, there was in one corner of this 
hall a wrought iron summer-house, presented by a Broad- 
way dealer in such things, which was made to serve as an 
ice-cream stall. Coming to this point, we have made the 
tour of the International Department. 
It only remains to speak of the pecuniary success of 
these stalls. That cannot be done accurately, for the 
Treasurer’s Report only gives the returns of the several 
divisions of the Union Square buildings in gross, and from 
the aggregate subtracts the sum of expenses, while the 
only other report we can find gives but partial returns. 
But as nearly as we can state the matter, the receipts of 
the International Department were, without deductions of 
any kind, $50,791.52. This amount is taken from the re- 
port of the Treasurer of the Fair, which gives no details 
of returns. From the report of the Managers of the 
International Department, however, we gather partial re- 
ceipts of the several stalls, which we give as showing, if 
nothing more, at least their relative gains. 
From the large Booth containing gifts from France, 
Germany, Russia, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, and 
Brazil $16,491.88 
From the Swiss Booth 7,696.67 
From the English Booth 4,936.75 
From the Stall of the Pennsylvania Relief Asso- 
ciation 2,600.03 
From the Ulster County Booth 1,948.18 
From the Hartford Booth 6,500.00 
From the Booth of the Park Barracks Association 1,842.25 
From the Flower Stands 1,775.05 
Making a total of $43,790.81 UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
181 
The receipts from the sale of ice cream are not men- 
tioned in this report, yet we cannot believe that that 
omission would by itself account for the difference be- 
tween the sum as set dowm above, and the nett receipts 
as given in the report from which we have taken these 
items. There the total is given $48,188.72. It is not 
unlikely that this amount represents the sum paid in to 
the general treasury by the International Department, 
after deducting its expenses; and hazarding this con- 
jecture, we will consign this money question to the only 
possible rest that remains for it, — the oblivion that 
attaches to its want of consequence. 
TUESDAY, APRIL 19. 
In the morning papers of this day, we find, with the 
news from Europe, that the powers interested in the 
Schleswig-Holstein troubles are again trying to find a 
way by diplomacy out of the battle-smoke in which they 
have enveloped themselves; that the English Parliament 
are still helplessly bewildered among the difficulties of 
neutrality ; that new doubts are perplexing the Mexican 
question, making it uncertain if after all the Archduke 
Maximilian will assume the purple; with these things, 
and the driblets of news from the theatre of our own con- 
flict, we do not get much positive final information from 
our journals. But there are the paragraphs relating to 
the Fair; there at least we find no perplexities, and if 
there is little told, it is merely because every thing went 
on satisfactorily. Monday was a bright day, and the 
crowd had been very great, especially in the evening. 
The “ sword contest ” at the close of the day stood as 
follows : — 
Number of votes for General McClellan, 5,560 
“ “ General Grant, 5,207 
Scattering, 109 
Total number of votes, 10,876 182 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
General McClellan was therefore 353 votes in advance 
of General Grant. 
When we come to look at our “ Spirit of the Fair ” for 
this day, we find preserved in it that music of the Indians 
which had been fascinating so many people at the Wig- 
wam in Fourteenth Street. Little boys had caught the 
savage notes, and echoed them, as boys will, in places 
where they lacked the crowning merit of fitness ; but 
here they were silently imprisoned, and saved to memory 
not only as a relic of the aboriginal life of America, but 
as a souvenir of the Fair. The “ Spirit ” gives them with 
a few words of comment. 
“ At the exhibition of the Indians at the Metropolitan Fair, the 
strangely weird vocal melodies used, in part, as accompaniment to their 
dances, are really noteworthy. These monotonous melodies are usually 
comprised within the first four steps of the diatonic scale. They are 
sung to the accompaniment of a little drum and a few rattles, while the 
feet are kept in motion by those accompanying, a LJAfricaine. The fol- 
lowing snatch is a specimen. This is repeated ad infinitum : — 
0 » » jj 
“ Occasionally a melody is introduced where the octave is heard, although 
this is usually covered by a shriek or howl, which is considered a relief 
to the otherwise nasal and dreamy mode of singing. Here is such a 
specimen, viz.: — 
“ The mai'k > indicates the shriek.” 
A peculiar feature of many of the fairs that were held 
this year, was the attempted reproduction of something 
of the early life of their several localities. In Brooklyn 
they had a New-England Kitchen, where the surround- 
ings of the settlers of the City of Churches were faith- 
fully copied. Elsewhere in New York State, where the 
Dutch had founded colonies, this resurrection of a bygone 
day wore another air. As a matter of course the most 
successful Dutch revival was made in New York — the UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
183 
New Amsterdam of the ancients. The civilization of that 
halcyon reign of Wouter Van Twiller, as described by the 
veracious historian of the Nieuw Nederlandts, was repro- 
duced in the Knickerbocker Kitchen of the Metropolitan 
Fair. Perhaps at first glance the learned Died rich might 
have thought that his pictures had been somewhat ideal- 
ized in this copy, for here was not only the solid comfort 
of the burgomaster, but something of gubernatorial splen- 
dor was superadded. But no one would have seen more 
quickly than that sagacious observer, that the people and 
the scenes he drew could not have been united in one 
view with more skill and truth than was here displayed. 
There was the broad, low room, with overhead the pon- 
derous beams garnished with festoons of dried apples, 
rows of dip-candles, seed-corn, and bright red peppers ; 
the deep window-seats, and windows with little panes; the 
generous fire-place with a fire of blazing logs, — real com- 
fort for cool spring evenings; the crane with the boiling 
pot; the mantel-shelf with its brass candlesticks and 
kettles, and store of burnished pewter; above these a 
long gun,—the identical Van Tassel gun, which is said to 
have frightened terribly the crew of the British sloop-of- 
war Vulture. In the chimney-corner sat Chloe and Ccesar, 
respectable people of color, the one busy with knitting, 
the other “ on hospitable cares intent,” scraped his fiddle 
for the beguilement of visitors. Sometimes, for more 
boisterous amusement, there came in a real Virginia darky, 
all ebony and ivory, who could dance a “ breakdown ” 
with all the vigor and splendor of embellishment of an 
age that is passing away. But this was only upon festive 
occasions. The regular ornaments of that fireside were 
Caesar and Chloe, and one or two pickaninnies that played 
upon the hearth. The air of easy comfort they gave to 
the spot was tempered by the presence of the spinning- 
wheel, and the bustle of preparation for the continual 
lunches and teas. Indeed, on looking a little further, it 184 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
was evident that these meals were the pride of the Knick- 
erbocker Kitchen. There was the deal dresser and cup- 
board lined with muslin laid on with brass-headed tacks; 
the stores of old-fashioned china, besides the majestic delft 
tea-pots, dear to the historian of the Dutch dynasty,— 
“ ornamented with paintings of fat little Dutch shepherds 
and shepherdesses tending pigs,— with boats sailing in 
the air, and houses built in the clouds, and sundry other 
ingenious Dutch fantasies;” while the centre of the room 
was filled with tables surrounded by high, broad-backed 
chairs, and set out with steel knives and forks and old- 
fashioned china, in expectation of the guests who were 
never wanting. All these things belonged to the business 
of the room. There were, however, articles for leisure 
and display. There were old mirrors with bevel edges 
and peacock feathers stuck about the top, — one mirror 
that had belonged to Governor Stuyvesant, brought over, 
it is said, in the same vessel that bore the Governor to his 
faithful colony. There were Dordrecht Bibles with bra- 
zen clasps and wonderful pictures, such as two centuries 
ago were given to every young married couple by their 
parents. In the parlor, which was cut off from one end 
of the kitchen, were some of the more stately pieces of 
antique furniture and a collection of portraits, which was 
not confined to the worthies of the Dutch rule, but in- 
cluded some faces that became known in the later times 
of English occupation. There were Governor Stuyvesant, 
Admiral Van Tromp, Peter Clopper, Egbert Benson, in 
friendly proximity to Chief Justice Jay, Brockholst Liv- 
ingston, and Lieutenant-Governor Colden. 
The presiding geniuses of this realm of old-fashioned 
and homely enjoyment, were certain ladies whose ances- 
tors figured in the chronicles of the Nieuw Nederlandts, 
and who held to the traditions of their fathers as far, at 
least, as it is possible to hold to any thing in this changing 
world of New York. Dressed in the robes of their great- UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
185 
grandmothers, they ruled the array of sable waiting- 
women, and sat at the heads of tables where were dis- 
pensed the Dutch dainties that now are hardly known 
otherwise than historically. There lies before us now a 
photograph, — the modern art preserves many old things 
from fading out of existence, — a picture of a lady in the 
wedding-gown that was brought from Holland two hun- 
dred years ago for a bride of her family. The silk of 
which this robe is made might still stand alone in its stiff- 
O 
ness, though its original white has been mellowed by time 
into a soft and creamy tint, and the great brocaded vine 
that straggles over the fabric presents the hues of antique 
tapestry in place of the vivid colors it wore in the days 
of Peter the Headstrong. It was in something such guise 
that stately dames in the Knickerbocker Kitchen sat at 
tables where were set forth such viands as would have 
delighted their ancestors. The bill of fare was simple; 
not quite so limited as that which the historian describes 
as common to the reign of Wouter Van Twiller, but nearer 
to that than to the complexities of the modern cuisine. 
There were two meals: lunch at eleven o’clock in the 
morning, tea at five in the afternoon, with long opportu- 
nities between and after for stragglers. There was one 
table where a little circle all of true Dutch descent, loved 
daily to gather, and indulge in old-fashioned sociability 
over ham and head cheese, spiced beef and veal, rullichies, 
waffles, (not the French gauffre, by any means,) olykoeks, 
krullers, and the many preserves and pickles that are so 
nearly lost to our present civilization. Such mince and 
apple pies were to be had here as the whole city else- 
where could not afford, and such good humor prevailed as 
is not yet forgotten by those who took lunches and teas 
at the Knickerbocker Kitchen. Dinners were not in this 
place — that was a private meal in the golden days of the 
Dutch dynasty, and was not to be made public here; but 
teas were so solidly furnished as to satisfy the cravings of 186 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
the degenerate modern appetite, even when they usurped 
the dinner hour; so what with the abundant fare, the 
good humor, and above all the associations clustering 
around the Kitchen, —play kitchen as it was,—it was con- 
tinually thronged, and excited a gentle enthusiasm differ- 
ent from any feeling called up by any other department 
of the Fair. We called it a play kitchen; but it entailed 
serious work upon those who insured its success. We 
think at this moment of two ladies whose strength gave 
way under the burden of unremitting attendance and 
toils. One was dangerously ill for weeks after the Fair; 
one is an invalid to this day. But their labors were la- 
bors of love, of happy enthusiasm, and, as a consequence, 
there was a sort of genial influence about the place that 
amounted to fascination. Not only did this affect those 
whose early recollections were tinged by lingering Dutch 
customs and traditions, but all who had learned to love 
that simple, generous people, through the pages of their 
historian, the veracious Diedrich Knickerbocker. His 
spirit was present to many, and a cordiality that was near 
to jollity was not without its effect upon many more. 
One leading journal that accorded one notice to the Curi- 
osity Shop, and two or three each to the Arms and Tro- 
phies Room and the Art Gallery, gave mention of the 
Knickerbocker Kitchen on eleven out of the seventeen or 
eighteen days of the Fair. What better proof of its pop- 
ularity could be wanted ? The only complaint recorded 
against it is that it was not large enough to accommodate 
the crowd which flocked there; but then that difficulty 
was the unevitable attendant upon popularity. We have 
had to speak of it in relation to other departments, and 
have generally found that such a trouble has so many 
compensations, that we dislike to treat it as a real griev- 
ance. 
The receipts of the Knickerbocker Kitchen, without 
any deduction for expenses, were $12,493.21. We shall UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
187 
hereafter give the returns of the several divisions of the 
Union Square building, together A\rith the sum of their ex- 
penses, and that will be our last and only remaining men- 
tion of the Knickerbocker Kitchen, — a place that in its 
day was pleasant to linger in, and still exists as a pleasant 
memory. 
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20. 
The newspapers tell us that upon Tuesday the attend- 
ance at the Fair was during the day somewhat less than 
it had been, but that in the evening the crowd was as 
great as ever. This fact may be counted among the indi- 
cations that the end was near. The Fair had drawn from 
ten thousand to upwards of thirty thousand visitors a day 
for more than two weeks, and even now that auction-sales 
had begun, and signs of dissolution Avere apparent in 
many places, the attendance continued about as full as 
ever. This we know from the returns of the Ticket De- 
partment, where we find that on no day of this last week 
did so feAV as ten thousand people visit the Fair. Still, the 
fact that reporters began to fancy a falling off in the 
number of visitors may be counted as a foreshadowing of 
the end. It may have been true that the holders of sea- 
son tickets, who for the most part had bought their tickets 
during the first Aveek, had begun to feel sated and to stay 
at home ; that would go a great way toward thinning out 
the crowds, but the number of single admissions during the 
last Aveek A\ras quite up to that for the second week, and 
even greater than that of the brilliant and bustling first 
week. 
This statement tempts us to a little digression concern- 
ing the Ticket Department, which offers us a few sugges- 
tive facts. The returns of this department, after paying 
all its expenses, were $178,715.14. The number of season 
tickets sold was eighteen thousand and tAventy-four, which, 
at five dollars each, amounted to a little more than ninety 188 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
thousand dollars, or about half the receipts for admissions. 
The greater part of these were, of course, sold during the 
first week of the Fair; there was .the more to be had out 
of them by getting them early, and as they admitted the 
holders to all departments, they were by far the cheapest 
way of visiting the exhibition, especially when a mere 
single entrance fee was a dollar. It is a curious fact that 
on the day when the price of admission was fixed for the 
rest of the Fair at fifty cents, the sale of season tickets 
immediately dropped to less than one third of what it 
had been the day before. During the third week there 
were a few who bought season tickets, but they did it at 
a pecuniary sacrifice which is delightful to contemplate. 
On the day of which we write, there were sixteen such 
magnificent outlays, and on the next day, Thursday, there 
were three, which especially deserve commemoration, for 
on the days after that to the end of the Fair season ticket- 
holders were requested to stay at home, or else pay their 
way like other folk. We will not speculate as to the‘pos- 
sibility of these three being not so much generous as ig- 
norant, for that would be a needless spoiling of our tribute 
to their magnificence. At all events, there were no more 
season tickets sold. So at the beginning the Fair was 
visited by those people who were able to pay a dollar for 
a single entrance, besides about twice as much more for 
the exhibitions, which we have spoken of as having so 
much trouble in levying their fees; — later the larger 
class who have less money to spend upon pleasures had 
their turn. They came as generously as their richer 
neighbors ; more so, in truth, for, as we have before said, 
the single admissions of the last cheap days were greater 
in number than those of the dear beorinnins;. If the 
crowds were not so great it was because the eighteen 
thousand who had free ingress at all times and to all 
places, had finally become tired of exercising their privi- 
lege. We mention this fact as further confirmation of a UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
189 
statement we have repeatedly made — that the Fair was 
furnished and supported by all classes alike, and was the 
people's contribution to the charity it served. 
And here we pause to do an act of justice. We have 
often spoken of the rights of season ticket-holders as a 
source of great annoyance; we wish now to add that 
those rights were undoubted, and it was not the exercise 
of them, but the granting them that was in fault. The 
season tickets were made to include too much, and the 
blame of all the troubles springing from the use of them 
belongs to the “management” of the Fair. But one can 
scarcely be harsh toward a want of foresight of which 
those guilty reaped all the bitterest fruits, and are ready 
enough to cry “ mea culpa, mea maxima culpa." We only 
record the error for the sake of truth, and for the benefit 
of other fairs. 
The “sword vote” of Tuesday is remarkable as breaking 
the long line of McClellan majorities. The total number 
of votes up to the close of the Fair on that evening was 
12,771; of these 
General Grant had received 6,366 
General McClellan had 6,288 
There were scattering votes to the number of . . 117 
General Grant’s majority was therefore . . 78 
We find in the “ Herald ” of this morning an announce- 
ment that after two o’clock on Saturday afternoon, and 
until eight of that evening, only subscriptions in sealed 
envelopes would be received for the swords; at eight 
o’clock all voting was to end. Ballot boxes were to be 
placed at convenient points, and so the crush and excite- 
ment that would naturally attend the close of such a 
conflict were to be avoided. 
There is a great deal in the papers of this day about 
the auction sales which had begun in the Picture Gallery 
and at the Fire Department Stall the evening before, and 190 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
which were to be a prominent feature of the remaining 
days of the Fair. The sale of books was to begin on 
this evening at the Cockloft Summer-house, and the Book 
Room was to retain only single copies for ordinary day- 
light buyers. At the picture sale, from which a double 
admittance fee kept away a crowd of lookers-on, there 
still was little room to spare. As for the prices realized, 
we give a few, taken at random from the newspaper lists, 
in order that any one who is curious may compare them 
with those of to-day. It should be remembered that 
during the spring of 1864 there had been an unusual 
number of collections thrown upon the market, and that 
picture-buying had been a sort of rage that was now on 
the decline — after having satisfied itself with French 
and German genre pieces. An “ Ecce Homo ” by Vandyck, 
presented to the Fair by one of the best known of New 
York collectors, brought five hundred dollars. The sale 
about this time of part of the Jarvis Collection showed 
conclusively, even if the price of this Vandyck as com- 
pared with the prices of other pictures sold that evening 
did not, the feeling that picture-buyers in New York 
have for the art of other times. A “ Spanish Girl,” by 
Hall, was sold for two hundred dollars; “ Florence Night- 
ingale at Scutari,” by E. Leutze, three hundred and ten 
dollars ; “ The Young Sweep,” by Eastman Johnson, two 
hundred and seventy-five dollars; “America in 1862,” 
by H. P. Gray, one hundred and fifty-five dollars; “A 
Coast Scene,” by Kensett, six hundred and sixty dollars; 
and a portrait of “ Richard Cobden,” by Fagnani, which 
was started at three hundred, was quickly run up to and 
sold at one thousand dollars. The evening’s receipts 
for pictures were $8,367, and for frames $1,086 ; which 
amounts are included in the returns of the Art Gallery 
as already given. 
We have next before us the Music Hall, and the Musical 
Department. The hall was a pleasant place to visit, UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
191 
having for ceiling a canopy of crimson and white bunt- 
ing, the rich color radiating from the centre to the walls 
where it was formed into a pretty cornice above the 
portraits and busts of musicians, maestri, and composers. 
Here were pianos and violins, melodeons and house 
organs, banjos and sheet music for sale; informal piano 
concerts at every hour of the day, and promenade con- 
certs and various elaborate entertainments distributed 
over the evenings. The true account of the Music Hall, 
however, means only the story of the achievements of 
its Committee — a story of zeal and generosity, common- 
place enough among the many such that lay at the foun- 
dations of the success of the Fair, but honestly illustrative 
of the spirit of the time we chronicle, and only having 
claims to special narration as it seems more intimately 
connected than usual with the account of its results. 
In the first place then, while the Committee were labor- 
ing during many weeks previous to the Fair to arrange 
their material for the great display, they were receiving 
constant contributions of a kind that has as yet made 
no show in these pages. If we have not directly stated 
the fact, we have yet made it easy to be inferred how 
committees went about and collected moneys within the 
bounds set to them, and how they were everywhere met 
by a noble generosity. The Music Committee collected 
gifts both of money and merchandise — that was as a mat- 
ter of course; perhaps, considering that the department 
was music, it was equally a matter of course that ladies 
should turn their talents and acquirements to pecuniary 
account in its support. At all events they did so. There 
were eight private concerts given, all of them made 
brilliant by the most beautiful music of voice and in- 
strument, by amateur and 'professional, that New York 
could furnish, and by audiences such as one might look 
for under the circumstances. There were other private 
performances which will be spoken of under another head, 192 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
— performances which eclipsed m splendor these brill- 
iant concerts, blit none which could lessen the praise 
due to them. As a matter of course, where achieve- 
ment was so excellent praise was not wanting. It only 
remains for us to add that, as usual, the unseen and 
unaccredited generosity went hand in hand with the 
evident and lauded generosity. Not only did artists 
volunteer their services so abundantly that many offers 
had to be declined, but furniture and decorations were 
often supplied without charge, while there were gentle- 
men always ready to pay every bill presented, in order 
that the receipts might go without diminution into the 
treasury of the Fair. And so it was in regard to other 
works done by this Committee. Under its auspices a 
matinee dansante was given at Delmonico’s, which yielded 
nearly as much money as the Cinderella matinee, and 
toward which (we hope that we are not transgressing 
the proprieties, for we are breaking our rule of silence 
as to personal doingsj Mr. Delmonico gave not only 
the use of rooms but a royal feast beside. Then there 
were the public concerts, — some of these we have men- 
tioned according to their time; we must now add to 
the list an organ concert at the Twenty-fifth Street 
Baptist Church, and performances by Bryant’s and by 
Wood’s Minstrels. As to the entertainments given dur- 
ing the Fair at the Union Square Music Hall, they were 
varied enough. A mere mention of them will show how 
active was the Committee, how ready and generous the 
musicians. There were vocal concerts by the German 
Liederkranz and by the Arion Society, the Oratorio of 
“Judas Maccabseus ” rendered by the Harmonic Society, 
promenade concerts by the Orchestra, a concert by the 
children of the Tenth Ward Public Schools, an exhi- 
bition of gymnastics by the German Turner-Verein; 
Photographiana by Mr. and Mrs. Watkins, and feats of 
jugglery by Mr. Robert Heller. These last three were in- 193 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION-. 
terspersed with music, while all were gifts to the Fair, 
free and entire, only one society presenting any bill for 
the expenses incurred in the kindly offices. It should 
be remembered that these entertainments were not a 
source of revenue; they were kept up solely as en- 
hancing the attractions of the exhibition. Not that 
such was the original intention. On the other hand 
the Music Hall was arranged with a view to its returns 
to the common treasury, just like the Indian Depart- 
ment, the Curiosity Shop, or any other room for enter- 
tainment only. But after the very first night’s concert, 
when the conflicting views of the equally indignant 
Musical Committee and season ticket-holders caused 
great confusion, the Music Hall was thrown open to 
all free of charge. This course was both generous and 
just, though, as was estimated, it made a difference of 
about ten thousand dollars in the returns of the De- 
partment. 
In addition to getting up the concerts in Union 
Square, the Music Committee had to supply the mil- 
itary bands for other parts of the Fair. There was in 
the Fourteenth Street building the Seventh Regiment 
Band of about fifty members, wdiile half that number 
from Dodworth’s Band stimulated gayety in the Inter- 
national Department. It may not be uninteresting to 
any one who has known the troubles of theatre and 
opera managers since the spring of 1864, to learn that 
the price of a musician for the Fair was twenty dollars 
a week, and that the leaders, in consideration of twice 
that amount, were expected to furnish all the music 
that might be required. 
Every evening, from first to last, the halls of the 
great charity were thronged. The music, no doubt, 
brought a great part of the crowd together, and kept 
the loiterers bright and happy while it lasted. At half- 
past ten the Drum Corps of the Seventh Regiment beat 194 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
a tattoo, and at eleven o’clock the gas was turned out, 
and the buildings were left to silence. So the tide of 
attendance each day swelled slowly from morning till 
evening, and kept its height during three hours of gas- 
light and music, and finally sunk away so suddenly as 
to astonish one who had watched its gradual rise. Those 
crowded evenings when the main hall with its thou- 
sand intricacies of form and color seemed one boundless 
saloon, everywhere covered and surrounded yet nowhere 
limited, filled everywhere with people always moving 
yet never passing away, everywhere flooded, glittering 
with light and constantly resounding with music, will 
never be forgotten by those who appreciated their 
magical influence in their time. As for the labor of 
the Music Committee in supplying that which made the 
evening better and more attractive than the day, why, 
it was simply immense. Varying and overseeing the 
concerts in Music Hall, was, in itself, no light work. 
Add to this the promenade music given in the Main 
Hall and in the International Department, and then 
throw in the supervision of other public and private 
concerts, the collection of gifts in money and merchan- 
dise, and the daily sales, and we have the suggestion 
at least of a task sufficient for any one committee. Not 
that this Committee did all the work that was done, 
or did more than many another, but the amount of its 
labor is easily made apparent, and so we use this case 
as an instance. It serves to show that devotion was 
no lighter to wear in 1864 than it ever was before, 
and that even when its fruit was a festivity, its pro- 
cesses were as slow and painful as those of a nun’s cell, 
or a chemist’s laboratory. 
We cannot better end this day than by recounting 
some of the humors of the Fair suggested by our own 
mention of its crowds and brilliancy. The lively “Spirit” 
had its daily record of the passing fun, its corners filled UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
195 
with bon-mots, the half of which, were we to transcribe 
them, would furnish out a new Joe Miller. But we 
remember that the dreariness of jest books has passed 
into a truism, and so restrict ourselves to mere samples; 
without so much, at least, our picture of the Fair would 
be incomplete. Here are some old (proverbial) friends 
with new faces: — 
“ There is honor among Aldermen.” 
“ When the Legislature falls out honest men come by their own.” 
“ Set an Editor on horseback and he ’ll ride to Washington.” 
u Needs must when Jeff. Davis drives.” 
“ Money makes the Mayor and Corporation go.” 
“ [And they make it go too. Printer's Devil]” 
“ There will soon be no ‘ fugitives from labor ’ in this country, except 
office-seekers.” 
“ TO A DISCONTENTED BACHELOR. 
“ To change your boarding-house is vain : 
You change the place but keep the pain. 
You ’ll learn at length, from one of Eve’s fair daughters, 
A better half alone gives better quarters.” 
• There were recorded a good many blunders like 
that of the young lady in the “ Potiphar Papers/’ who 
thought it funny that Mr. Dusseldorf should have painted 
all those pictures; but one or two will do as well as ten 
for our purpose. “ An old gentleman/’ we are told, 
“was passing by Cockloft Hall, and perceived the in- 
scription — ‘ Smokem, toastem, roastem/ etc. ‘ Oh, here 
is something good to eat/ he exclaimed, i let’s go in ; ’ 
and in he wTent.”—“A youth is said to have retired 
from that cosy summer-house disgusted with the col- 
lection of living autographs, because there was no trace 
of Rip Van Winkle’s pen among them.” 
Among the gossip of the Fair we find chronicled a 
feat of potation, which certainly deserves to be classed 
among jokes : — 196 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
“ The Soda-water Stand has up a placard, ‘ No change given.’ A gen- 
tleman drank his glass of soda-water and tendered a two dollar bill; no 
change being given him, he drank out the balance.” 
“ [In the Book Store. — Comfortable old lady from the country 
with a leather bag]. 
“ Old Lady. — ‘ Got any books for children ? which I wants one for 
my grand-darter.’ 
“ Pretty Young Lady [selling]. — ‘ Oh, yes! here is one quite cele- 
brated ; all the children cry for it.’ 
“ [Old Lady takes it, examines the outside, and pays for it]. 
“ Young Lady [sweetly]. — ‘ Would you like an autograph with it? ’ 
“ Old Lady [looking annoyed and puzzled]. — ‘ Well, no ; it’s heavy 
enough without one.’ 
“ [Young Lady is convinced that Old Lady thought ‘ an autograph ’ was 
a large pincushion on which her hand was resting; but the author of the 
book, who had been standing close by, stalks off flaming with rage, and 
immensely disgusted at the back-handed compliment].” 
“ ’T is said that Poe indulged in wine, 
And critics harsh have striven to show it. 
To contradict the charge be mine — 
A little tea made Poe a Poet.” 
Is it enough ? If there be still thirst for more, a 
search through the pages of the “ Spirit ” will reveal 
not only such humors as we have transcribed, but 
longer ones which would have transgressed our modest 
bounds, and perhaps the reader may think, better ones 
than we have chosen. We shall be content to bear 
such a judgment if only the searcher and judge will 
enjoy his discoveries. 
THURSDAY, APRIL 21. 
The newspaper reporters do not always agree, even 
in a statement of facts. Without seeking for other 
illustrations of this proposition, we will merely give 
the one which called out our generalization. Three 
most prominent among the morning papers of New 
York give such different accounts of the Wednesday’s 
attendance at the Fair, that we pause for a moment in UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
197 
wonder that so simple a matter of fact can wear such 
contrary faces. One journal says: “ The crowd yester- 
day was as great as on any day since the opening of 
the Fair, from the time the doors were opened in the morn- 
ing till they ivere closed at night. The building was kept 
perfectly jammed ; ” — and so on through a whole par- 
agraph. Another, with less apparent enthusiasm and 
more apparent candor, says: “ There was a large falling 
olf in the number of visitors at the Fair during yester- 
day morning and afternoon, but as soon as the gas was 
lighted, the crowd began to increase, and by eight o’clock 
in the evening both the Fourteenth Street and Union 
Square buildings were so thronged with people that at 
times it was impossible to move about from place to 
place with any degree of comfort.” A third journal, 
with a touch of slang which we must pardon just now, 
says: “ The attendance at the Fair yesterday showed 
very little falling off, except in the season ticket-holders, 
who have evidently got a surfeit of the exhibition, and 
remain at home to the great comfort of transient vis- 
itors, who formerly used to stand no chance at all in 
the jam of the five-dollar seasonites. After eight o’clock 
last night, the crowd at the Fourteenth Street building 
seemed as large as on any previous occasion ; but the 
faces were nearly all new ones, and the more welcome 
for that reason.” After an appeal to the daily returns 
of the Ticket Department, we are convinced that the 
third journal is correct in its statement, except as re- 
gards that rash and slangy fling at the people who 
stayed away, so much to the satisfaction of the reporter. 
We really cannot see why a “transient visitor” has not 
quite as good a chance of making his way through a 
jam as a “ five-dollar seasonite,” but we will not be 
hypercritical. The sentence reveals to us that the season 
ticket-holders, along with their excess of privilege, re- 
ceived that common penalty of greatness,—invidious corn- 198 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
ment. As for the first quotation from the papers, we 
fancy it will be appreciated by people who have been 
surprised at finding the opera audience of the evening 
before, which they remembered as unusually thin, de- 
scribed as overflowing the house from floor to dome. 
A few such surprises suffice to teach most of us that 
reporters are good-natured and imaginative, rather than 
omnipresent, as we at first take them to be. But it is 
an evil consequence of such an ordering of things that 
it lessens the value of such reports for all needs of his- 
tory. To pick the truth out of the testimony of half 
a dozen eye-witnesses is not so very easy a matter, 
when .the accounts often differ even more than those 
three which we just quoted. But such an example 
will serve us quite as well as a homily. It is quite 
as suggestive, and does not lead us away from our 
subject. 
Turning, then, at once to the “ sword contest,” we 
find that on Wednesday night 
The whole vote was 14,114 
Of which General Grant had 7,007 
And General McClellan 6,989 
There were also scattering votes 118 
General Grant was therefore eighteen votes ahead in 
this race; — the second time since the first Tuesday of 
the Fair that he had enjoyed that distinction. The 
papers show that rivalry was becoming serious among 
enthusiastic partisans of the two generals, but we leave 
the consideration of that until to-morrow. 
Auctions had been continued in the Picture Gallery 
and in the Curiosity Shop; the Executive Committee had 
been obliged to forbid them elsewhere for fear the Fair 
should be swept clean before Friday, and should leave 
an exhibition where there would be nothing to be ex- 
hibited. The Wednesday evening sales in the Picture UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
199 
Gallery brought better prices than that of the previous 
evening. Nearly twenty-two thousand dollars was re- 
alized, which made the returns of the two evenings over 
thirty thousand dollars. The two Albums of Sketches 
that had given so much trouble to the conservators 
of public morals were now disposed of. One of them 
brought twenty-six hundred, and the other three thou- 
sand dollars. This is something more than half as much 
as they might have realized by subscription, but as we 
have already shown, the management of the Fair cheer- 
fully accepted the loss that was incurred in the main- 
tenance of principle. As lor the newspapers, even the 
recalcitrant ones, they had so far forgotten their quarrel 
over these same albums that they spoke as if they had 
never known albums or dispute : “ Two black walnut 
caskets, containing collections of sketches, were sold re- 
spectively for” etc. This was not the end expected 
by the kindly artists, and the 
“ Nescia mens hominum fati sortisque future,” 
which might be very freely translated, the mind of man 
which foresees neither the chance of fate nor the fate 
of chance, but it does sometimes happen, as in this case, 
that the blanks fall to him who sits at the wheel. 
So much indeed might one have gathered from the 
newspapers of Thursday morning, April 21st, 1864. On 
entering the Fourteenth Street building that morning one 
encountered tidings quite as interesting as any given in 
the papers; nothing less in fact, than that the Indian 
Department was closed forever. We have already told 
of some troubles that oppressed the Wigwam in com- 
mon with some other departments, and, unless memory 
fails us, we hinted at coming ills and a catastrophe. The 
time has now come when we may lift the veil and dis- 
close the little drama that was played out upon that 
stage; or rather, we might say, disclose so much as is 200 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
necessary to do an act of simple justice to those who 
did not defend themselves, and to the faithful telling of 
our story of the Fair. We should have liked better to 
draw our picture, since it is of real, present life, with- 
out any shades, — you know that is always the incli- 
nation of portrait painters, to make serene and flawless 
beauties of us all, — but as our shadow is really not 
very great, and we have somewhat to serve, too, in 
giving it, we will be truthful, and draw our Cromwell 
with all his deformities. The object which we serve 
in doing this is the vindication of the Indians against 
a charge which they incurred at the time of which we 
write. The Wigwam never had been so successful as 
during this last week of the Fair; and now when the 
doors were found to be closed, and the promised rep- 
resentations denied without a word of explanation — 
on whom could one cast the blame of so plain a dis- 
regard of the obligations of civilized life but on the 
Indians? It must have been thus that many reasoned, 
for we find in one of the morning papers of the time 
a statement that the Indians had gone “on the ram- 
page,” and had left their pale-faced admirers forever in 
the lurch. To be sure this account had nothing but its 
apparent reasonableness for a foundation, but then few 
stories have even so good a basis as that, and so the 
happy invention came to be believed. Not that every- 
body believed, but only enough to make it right that 
we should offer some explanation of the difficulty. 
This we shall best do by going back a little in our 
story, and so we advise all those who wish that writers 
never would do such things as indulge in genealogies, 
retrospects, and such-like hindrances, that we put this 
review beyond the reach of their fault-finding, by beg- 
ging them not to read it. The story is briefly this : — 
A party of Iroquois Indians were engaged to exhibit 
their ancient manners, customs, and rites at the Fair UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
201 
during a period of two weeks, beginning on Monday 
the twenty-eighth day of March, the time first set for 
the opening of the Fair. The terms of engagement 
promised the Indians transportation and board and 
lodging while they remained in town, which was all 
that they asked. They presented themselves punct- 
ually to their impresario, and were told that the Fair 
was put off for one week, and so the first week of their 
engagement was passed, let us hope in enjoyment, since 
harder times were coming so soon. It has been whis- 
pered that this week was any thing but a resting time 
to the manager of this dusky force, who, it is said, was 
kept continually upon the trail — through the waste 
places of city grog-shops, and who by the next Monday 
was so worn down, by a series of pursuits and captures, 
that he found his after-toils but play in comparison. 
We cannot vouch for the truth of this story, but if 
it is founded on fact it is merely of a piece with the 
truth which stern history often obliges us to tell of 
loftier heroes. At any rate the Indians had their week 
of leisure, and the Indian Department paid for it. But 
at last the Fair was opened, and the dance, the song, 
the rite were duly given thrice a day to crowded houses. 
The grief of this second week — how the season ticket- 
holders would fill up the seats without paying for them, 
to the financial embarrassment of the manager — we 
have already told. With the close of this week came 
the close of the Indians’ engagement. But the public 
had not begun to have enough of them, and so the 
manager went to his troupe and begged them to stay 
another week, and give daily three or four extra per- 
formances from which season ticket-holders should be 
excluded. That was asking a good deal, especially as 
the original contract had included only three perform- 
ances a day, but the Indians consented to remain one 
more week on the same terms as before, and were as- 202 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
sured, for their greater content, that the Fair would end 
upon the coming Saturday ; and so a new engagement 
was entered on, and the Indians performed such feats 
of dancing, howling, droning, and scalping as were 
never heard of before. So hot was the succession of 
performances, so eager were the people, that it almost 
seemed as if there were a friendly contest between red 
and pale faces as to whether performance or appreciation 
should be most prominent. The rivalry grew higher, 
until it became matter of wonder that the Indians 
should be able to go through such fatigue one day 
and live to repeat them the next. A sympathetic 
writer inserted a letter of complaint as from one of the 
Indians in a weekly paper. The poor savage was made 
to say among other things: — 
“ I have had a very hard time of it. The first night I thought it very 
fine. I had a good place to see the pale-faces who crowded around me, 
and above them I could see the lights more dazzling than the stars and 
almost as numerous. Beautiful squaws stood before me, and showed 
their white teeth when I danced higher and howled louder than usual. 
... I say this was very nice. I danced and howled with all my might 
to please the pretty squaws. This is what I did the first night. I rolled 
myself in my blanket, feeling quite tired, but with an Indian’s determi- 
nation to do what I could the next day for the Great Father and his 
pale face warriors. 
“ The next day my services were in greater demand than ever. More 
than that, I was called on earlier than the day before, and had to keep 
it up until long after the sun had set. Before dusk I grew hoarse and 
tired. I sighed for my old hunting-ground, where I could rest when I 
pleased. And how do you think I feel now, after nearly two weeks of 
such hard labor ? Every muscle in my body aches. My voice is clean 
gone ; indeed I have not enough left to frighten a deer. No longer can 
I sing the war-song of my fathers, nor shout the war-whoop of my tribe, 
nor am I able to join in the dance with my brother warriors. Indeed, 
what am I without the use of voice or limbs ? ” 
And so the complaint goes on until it becomes dithy- 
rambs, and breaks into verse : — UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
203 
“ I Ve come to a land they call afghan, 
In the realm of Hulla-ba-loo, 
Where they think it line to yell and screech 
And be scalped the whole day through.” 
And so on through four and twenty lines of less merit 
than these, but of growing vehemence. Enough has 
been given, at any rate, to show what kind of labor 
these generous Indians underwent in their voluntary 
service of the Sanitary Commission. The picture is not 
overdrawn, and indeed is so far from it that we may 
reasonably fear that it does not represent enough, but 
even as it stands it is sufficient to show the spirit that 
was in these dusky benefactors. We shall need to re- 
member how they fulfilled the first contracts, before we 
judge them in regard to the last. 
During this second week of the Fair, the third since the 
Indians had left their homes, it was announced that the 
exhibition would continue through three weeks, instead 
of two, as at first proposed. This determination made 
difficulties in the Wigwam. A second engagement was 
ended, and the Indians were anxious to be away. The 
time of the planting of corn was now at hand, and the 
remains of strength were wanted in “fresh woods and 
pastures new.” So when on Monday morning, April 18th, 
the manager presented himself before the Indians and 
urged their staying still another week, he had hard work 
to gain his point. And when at last he was victorious, it 
was owing to the new terms which he was empowered by 
the Executive Committee to offer, as much as to the force 
with which he urged those terms. The Indians were to 
be paid for this last week of service, and season ticket- 
holders were to be admitted only as other people were, on 
paying the extra fee. The matter was settled upon these 
conditions, and the performances of Monday, Tuesday, and 
Wednesday were the most successful that the Wigwam 
had known. It seemed as if the day of trouble was past, 204 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
when suddenly it arose again darker than ever. On 
Thursday morning the posters and bills of announcements 
about the luckless little theatre were all gone, the doors 
remained obstinately closed to sight-seers, and before long 
it was known that the Indians had suddenly left town, 
and were making all haste to those fields which had in- 
vited them vainly three days before. Then it was that 
people remembered that the Indian had ever been perfid- 
ious, a breaker of contracts both by nature and by teach- 
ing ; it was only wonderful that he had been trusted so 
long. Probably few said so much, but the joke that the 
Indians had gone upon the rampage w\as current, and was 
quite as damaging as a condemnation. The matter has 
never been publicly explained, and in the hurry of city 
life has been forgotten by all save the few most interested. 
It is therefore unnecessary to make any further explana- 
tion than just so much as may suffice for purposes of 
justice. 
The departure of the Indians was owing to a misunder- 
standing. They went away supposing that the contract 
with them had been disowned by the Executive Com- 
mittee, and that, consequently, the time they could not 
afford to lose was being thrown away. It matters not 
now how such a misunderstanding arose. The Indians 
had been acting generously and in good faith, and they 
incurred the odium of breaking their engagement when 
in reality they went away feeling that they were a de- 
frauded and injured people, and that their engagement was 
broken not by them, but by others to whom they looked 
up for better things. This feeling was shared by those 
who engaged the Indians, and is held by them to this day. 
As for ourselves, we cannot declare that the Executive 
Committee was any more to blame than the Indians. It 
is an old trouble, and is not worth the while to bring it to 
judgment. We have mentioned these few facts with hesi- 
tation, and only because we deemed it necessary to show 205 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
that the Indians who were the real sufferers by the matter 
did not deserve the bad repute which came to them along 
with their other difficulties. As for the rest, we can af- 
ford to consign it to forgetfulness, or remember it as one 
more illustration of the story of the two knights who 
fought about the double-faced shield. 
It will put a pleasanter face on our sketch of this day 
if we take our finishing touches from the “ Spirit of the 
Fair,” which affords the means of supplementing our 
former slight account of the Children’s Department, with 
some of those details of generous interest such as added 
the final charm to almost every department of the Fair. 
We give the words of the kindly “ Spirit: ” — 
“ One of the most interesting, on some accounts, of the stalls in the 
Fair, is that devoted to Charitable Institutions. It is in the Children’s 
Department, and is furnished by the inmates of the various charitable 
institutions and asylums for the unfortunates, whose welfare is felt to be a 
public care. The frequent use of the hall for musical and other enter- 
tainments, has a tendency to prevent the sale of articles at the various 
stands in this department. Patronage is, in consequence, in a great 
measure diverted to other parts of the building. For many reasons this 
is unfortunate, and particularly in the case of the stand under considera- 
tion. 
“ The articles for sale here represent, probably, a greater devotion than 
in almost any other department of the Fair. The donors, in some cases, 
have exhausted all their means to set forth the display of this stand. The 
little children of the Home for the Friendless have given every penny — 
three hundred in all — that they have received since Christmas, with the 
exception of one a piece: a nest-egg, we are sure, for future accumula- 
tions, that will be as freely given whenever a worthy object shall present 
itself. But perhaps the most touching of all is a collection of amulets, 
or lamp-lighters, of colored paper, made by the smallest of them. They 
could do no more, but this mite of theirs is one of the most suggestive 
and noble of the many gifts collected at the Fair. These lamp-lighters 
are put up in five-cent bundles, and there are $18 worth of them. With 
the humble offering came the following letter : — 
‘ Home foe the Friendless, 32 East 30th Street. 
‘ The children of the Home for the Friendless take great pleasure in donat- 
ing their free-will offering to the Fair for the benefit of the Sanitary Commis- 
sion. They feel a deep interest in the welfare of our suffering soldiers, inas 206 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
much as over sixty of their boys are now engaged in this conflict for freedom 
and the Union. They therefore give their three hundred pennies with their 
best wishes for the success of the Metropolitan Fair, and speedy restoration of 
peace to our beloved country. 
‘ They also send twelve boxes containing thirty packs of lamp-lighters, made 
by their own hands, to give light to all who buy them. Sent by vote of the 
Home children. 
‘ Mus. R. P. Renfield, 
‘ Children’s Secretary.’ 
“ The institutions that have contributed to furnish the stand, are the 
Deaf and Dumb Asylum, Blind Asylum, State Lunatic Asylum, Bloom- 
ingdale, Hebrew, and Colored Orphan Asylum, New York ; Wilson In- 
dustrial School, and the Home for the Friendless. Five little girls be- 
longing to the Brick Church Mission School, prepared a doll with a com- 
plete set of dresses, which is for sale for $10. We have mentioned this 
stand particularly, because of the nature of the donors, and the character 
of the gifts. Probably not one of all the stands at the Fair, however 
magnificent, unique, or costly its furniture, is watched with such eager 
interest by the donors, as the one referred to. For the sake of the self- 
sacrificing givers, and the honor of charity itself, we bespeak a full sale 
for all the goods.” 
There was a sort of supplement to the Children’s De- 
partment which must not be forgotten. The inclosure in 
Union Square was shut to everybody who did not enter it 
from the Fair buildings, and was fitted up especially for 
the amusement of little folks, though it did not fail to 
attract children of all sizes and ages. All day long there 
were the fresh green grass and budding trees, with 
flowers, swings, and children’s games, and when the day 
was sunny, better than all the rest, there were the chil- 
dren themselves with their frolics and happy noise. In 
the evening there were ghosts in the fountains, and many 
lights among the trees, and snatches of music from the 
brilliant building at the end of the walk. One of the 
morning papers remarked that Union Square Park had 
never been so fashionable as it was now that people had 
to pay fifty cents to get into it. Perhaps there was some 
truth there; we all know the difference between the 
Fifth Avenue and the Central Park skating ponds, but 
then, who will say that the difference is not something UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
207 
more than the mere matter of an admission fee ? In this 
case the difference was quiet, security, enjoyment; and 
when these were added to the other attractions of the 
place, what wonder that fashion was ready to appropriate 
the good ? 
Having now taken the last topographical glance at the 
Union Square buildings, we may end this day with a short 
statement of the returns of the several departments, as 
we find them set down in the Treasurer’s Report. We 
are obliged to give these figures together, because we 
can find no distribution of the expenses of the Union 
Square building among its departments, and therefore we 
do not know what net receipts to assign to any one of 
them. 
UNION SQUARE. 
Sundry sales $554.01 
Donations 1,063.00 
Children’s Department 17,523.32 
International Department 50,791.52 
Music Hall and Committee . 14,360.49 
Knickerbocker Kitchen 12,493.21 
96,785.55 
Deduct expenses . . 11,211.61 
$85,573.94 
That, brief as it is, is the whole statement, and if the 
amount is not large compared with the million and a 
quarter from Fourteenth Street, it will, at least, make a 
very fair show in comparison with the returns of any four 
departments in the larger building. And, which is of 
more consequence than that, we may safely assert, that, 
small as it was, the Union Square building throughout the 
Fair held its own in popularity and beauty against its 
greater sister in Fourteenth Street, and that, considering 
its isolation and its comparative want of support from 
the rich trades and societies, its receipts are a sufficient 
indication of the high esteem in which it was held. 208 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
FRIDAY, APRIL 22. 
The journals of this day devote nearly all the space 
given to the Fair to the “ sword contest,” which had been 
gradually assuming a foremost importance among the 
topics of the day. True, we are told that the yesterday’s 
attendance was every thing that could be wished, that the 
weather was beautiful, and so on in a scale of diminishing 
interest. But as much space is given to the swords, or 
rather to the army sword, as a few days before was 
granted to a half dozen departments. The polls had been 
so besieged for several days back as to call forth a re- 
monstrance from some of the newspapers. Remarks as to 
the destination of votes about to be deposited were freely 
bandied about by the crowd, and, more than all, a political 
significance seemed to be attached to the issue of the vote 
by many more zealous than wise people. McClellan’s 
name had stood at the head of the lists on every morning 
except two since the second day of the Fair, yet his ad- 
herents had repeatedly shown a strange uneasiness as to 
the final result. It was openly said in at least one of the 
leading dailies, that there was really no hope for McClellan 
in the “sword contest,” as the polls were exclusively under 
the control of people devoted to Grant, who would not 
suffer their hero to be defeated. The language in which 
this was couched contained an insinuation too ridiculous 
to deserve a serious defense; but it was not until the heat 
of disappointment had caused the same daily to utter still 
more loudly the cry of corruption, that such enthusiasts 
saw how worthless was the charge so lightly made. The 
arrangements made to secure order in the final voting 
were violently abused as a cover to dishonesty, but, of 
course, no one, not even the fault-finders, for a moment 
put any belief in such talk. The voting at the polls was 
mostly done by ladies, but the end showed that all the 
while the lords of creation were getting more and more UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
209 
interested, and were only preserving a strategic inactiv- 
ity. They withheld their forces for the sealed ballot of 
Saturday, which every one began to see was to be larger 
than any that had yet been polled, though how much 
larger was little guessed by the uninitiated public. 
Having come now to the next to the last day of our 
chronicle, we may as well give the vote of the last three 
days together. There is no object in keeping back the 
result, for every one remembers it, and we wish to have 
Saturday for a general review, unclogged by any business 
of the day. On Thursday, then, the vote stood 
For McClellan 8,209 
For Grant, 7,824 
Scattering, 123 
16,156 
McClellan’s majority was therefore, out of 2,042 votes 
cast that day, 385. On Friday night the books stood — 
For McClellan, 10,062 
For Grant, 8,442 
Scattering, 137 
18,641 
The vote of the day was 2,485, and McClellan’s major- 
ity 1,620. Large as was this vote, and this majority, it 
failed to prepare people for the vote and majority of Sat- 
urday. At the closing of the polls the final vote stood — 
For McClellan, 14,509 
For Grant, 30,291 
Scattering, 163 
44,963 
The vote of the day was 26,322, and Grant’s majority 
15,782. The number of votes cast on Saturday for Gen- 
eral Grant was therefore 21,849. 
It need scarcely be told that the excitement following 
27 210 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
the announcement of the issue of this contest was intense. 
It had been feared that under the original method of vot- 
ing, the closing hours might be marred by a struggle on 
the part of the friends of one of the candidates to gain 
exclusive possession of the books; and the greatest care 
was taken that no disturbance should check either voting 
or counting under the system of sealed ballots. There 
were several rough-looking fellows about the stand during 
the evening, who talked loudly and boisterously, and an- 
nounced that they were there to see fair play for 
, which of the candidates we will not say. But a 
force of twenty-five policemen who were summoned at 
this emergency, took the question of fair play into their 
own hands, and treated it as successfully, if not as noisily, 
as those self-constituted champions of purity of the bal- 
lot. When the result was announced, there was great 
cheering and waving of handkerchiefs, mingled with hisses 
and groans from some of the disappointed. Indeed, the 
feeling seemed to run so high that the gas was partially 
turned off, and the buildings emptied as soon as possible 
to avert any possible collision. That end was gained, but, 
if it be not too late to express the feeling, we should 
have thought it more consonant with the dignity of the 
occasion, that the Metropolitan Fair should have closed its 
doors to the sound of a hymn of thanksgiving, — that it 
might have ended as it begun, with a recognition of its 
humane and Christian significance. However, that is only 
question of outward form ; the real dignity of the work 
did not fail of appreciation, and the few errors and short- 
comings did not weigh against the great beneficence and 
beauty — at least they did not with any whose perception 
was one whit clearer than that of the cobbler who only 
saw in the Belvedere Apollo a foot that he would not care 
to fit for a shoe. 
It was at Union Square that the largest votes were de- 
posited during the last hours of hurry. The crowd was UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
211 
in Fourteenth Street, and very heavy voting was done 
there, several envelopes containing five hundred dollars 
each being found in the boxes; but in the box from 
Union Square were found such votes as these — “Loyal 
Men of New York, Grant, $2,097;” “Loyal New-Eng« 
lander, Grant, $3,000 ; ” “ Loyal Men of New York, 
Grant, $1,000;” “Sundry persons, Grant, $1,000;” “Loyal 
Men of New York, Grant, $10,000.” When the largest 
vote upon the other side was not more than four hun- 
dred dollars, what wonder that the contest was finally lost 
to those who had quietly submitted to a daily defeat for 
more than a fortnight, but had reserved such strength 
for the end of the battle ? 
The voting was for the most part conducted in excel- 
lent spirit. The slight acrimony that touched the over- 
zeal of some, one can easily afford to forget; and the 
bitter charges and hard words of disappointment, one can 
as easily afford to forgive. The sum brought by the two 
swords to the treasury of the Fair was $45,885. Of this, 
the navy sword contributed nine hundred and twenty-two 
dollars, thus made up — 
For Commodore Farragut, 332 votes. 
For Commander Rowan, 462 “ 
Scattering, 128 “ 
Total, 922 votes. 
Commander Rowan’s majority was therefore 130 votes. 
The Arms and Trophies Committee made over to the 
general treasury of the Fair, after all expenses were paid, 
$62,499.29, which sum includes the amount realized by 
the two swords, together with the receipts of their mu- 
seum, from admissions, sales, and gifts. 
We have frequently mentioned the exhibitions given 
by Public Schools in aid of the Fair, yet we have by no 
means indicated the great assistance rendered from this 
source. There lies before us at this moment a list of the 212 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
results of these entertainments. Every ward in the city, 
excepting the Second — in that stronghold of trade we 
believe there is no public school — is represented in this 
record of generosity. The sum raised by the Public 
Schools was $23,706.69, and after the inevitable deduc- 
tions had been made, the contribution figures in the Treas- 
urer’s columns as $23,605.39. The largest gift was from 
the schools of the Twenty-second Ward, $2,400.12. In 
one ward a single “ Colored School ” gave more than all 
the other schools of the ward. We mention the fact not 
as making against the schools which were distanced in 
the kindly race, for circumstances beyond our knowledge 
might serve to explain away the defeat, but rather as 
showing the generous zeal in behalf of our charity felt 
by a people who are poor and untrained, and of whom so 
many of us are ready to believe worse things. Indeed, 
the Colored Schools in several instances made a creditable 
show alongside the other schools of the wards. If we 
knew better the material of which other schools were 
made, no doubt we should find many to be worthy of spe- 
cial remark; or, which is quite as likely, we might be in 
doubt as to where to stop our roll of honor short of 
naming all alike. We have found, however, among the 
papers relating to the Fair which have been put into our 
hands, a tribute to the work of the Public Schools which 
has not yet been printed, but which tells a pleasant story 
of cheerful devotion that may be applied to all. We are 
glad to give this paper entire, premising only that it is 
from the hand of a gentleman whose position as a Com- 
missioner of Public Schools, entitles him to speak ex 
cathedra: — 
“ In the absence of any detailed report of the School Committee, it is 
not well to let the great Fair pass away without a few words respecting 
the contributions of the Public Schools. When I visited the office where 
the ladies met in making preparations for the Fair, and suggested to one 
of the managers an appeal to the Public Schools in behalf of the Fair, 
she seemed very doubtful. She thought the result of the appeal would UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
213 
be trifling, but that perhaps, if the children could all be assembled in the 
Academy of Music, the public might be induced to pay a dollar admission 
fee to see them. I left the office much discouraged; convinced that after 
the 60,000 school children in average daily attendance were comfortably 
seated in the Academy of Music, there would be little room for the 
public at any price.” 
[The next sentence embodies a mistake — a committee 
was afterwards formed which worked with the teachers 
of the schools]. 
“ Meanwhile, however, the schools had taken the matter into their 
own charge, and nowhere else were found warmer hearts or busier 
hands, while the supervision of the trained and accomplished teachers 
gave to this inexhaustible youthful energy, a most efficient and practical 
direction. 
“ Contributions were volunteered by the children, many a little fellow 
going without his lunch in order to give to the Fair the few pennies 
constituting his entire income for the day. Remember that these offer- 
ings, so far from being forced, were given with such an entire appre- 
ciation of the object that it would have wounded the feelings of the little 
donors to refuse them. Exhibitions were given, consisting of recitations, 
dialogues, calisthenics, singing, and other school exercises often admirably 
executed, and always attractive to those whose spirits are not so worn 
and jaded as to be insensible to the natural grace and fresh young- 
voices of little children. It was found that the patrons and friends of 
a single department of two or three hundred children were sufficiently 
numerous to crowd the Academy of Music, or the Hall of the Cooper 
Union. Many articles of wearing apparel as well as fancy articles were 
made in the schools, and placed on some of the various tables of the 
Fair, and a large quantity were sold at the Public School Table by a few 
of the pupils of one of the Departments. A play was acted by some of 
the pupils of a Male Grammar-School, and altogether I think that the 
public, whose notions have been somewhat aristocratic and utterly vague 
in regard to our schools, have been pleasantly introduced to the great 
unknown power growing up silently among us to support with new 
columns the superstructure of the Republic. 
“ As a slight return for all their labor the schools were admitted free 
to the Fair, and thousands passed through without accident or disorder, 
assisted in the most kindly manner by the police, who expressed their 
own surprise at this new evidence of the effect of discipline. These 
scholars are the children of all classes in this community, — the wealthier 
as well as the poorer. — but by far the larger portion are in very moder- 214 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
ate or needy circumstances ; and when T read in your list of contributions 
the condensed single line — 
‘ Public School Committee, $23,706.69,’ 
I feel that the report though incomplete remains a monument honorable 
to the Public School System, which might truly bear the inscription — 
‘ In memory of the Love and Labor of the People’s Children.’ ” 
Beside this noble gift from the Public School chil- 
dren, there was also a contribution of $1,129.15 from 
some of the Private Schools of the city — and this re- 
minds us to mention a few of those contributions that 
made no show at booths, and so have escaped mention 
in this chronicle. We have already recorded some of 
them, — as the gifts of coal, and flags, the gifts from the 
clerks in the Post-Office, from the Metropolitan Police, 
etc. On looking down the columns of the Treasurer’s 
report we come across many that we will now set 
down just as they are there written, satisfied that the 
names representing so many different interests, and the 
figures set opposite the names, will be sufficiently elo- 
quent as to the common concern which all New York- 
ers had in the Soldiers’ Fair. — 
Public Conveyances . $8,280.80 
Trades and Associations 3,224.48 
Foreign Conti’ibutions (not included in any we) 
have mentioned) j 5,..55.77 
Hide and Leather Committee 6,770.00 
Light Gymnastics 745.55 
Interest on United States Loans 1,451.09 
Express Companies’ Committee' 20,000.00 
Out-of-Town Contributors 3,081.12 
Hartford 1,005.00 
Produce and Commission Committee 5,750.00 
Insurance 943.83 
Newspaper Donations 1.245.04 
Dentists’ Committee 2,913.50 
7th Regiment N. Y. S. N. G, 8,583.50 
Cotton and Raw Goods Committee 8,475.00 UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
215 
There is one more Committee whose work must be 
recorded. The Drama was, as we have often enough 
said, a very present help to the Fair, but we have left 
it till the end of our work to show what and how much 
was the aid rendered from this source. The Committee 
on Public Amusements was formed early in December 
of 1865. The managers of the city theatres were soon 
interested, and during the winter several plays were 
given for the benefit of the coming Fair. The first of 
these was “Rosedale,” at that time running its wonderful 
course of popularity at Wallack’s. The other theatres 
followed, until nearly all had contributed their share. 
Barnum’s, the circuses, and a billiard tournament, gave 
also through the Dramatic Committee. Many of these 
entertainments we have spoken of during the course of 
our chronicle. Some—we hope they were few—resulted 
in a loss to the givers, and so were not represented in 
the returns of any committee — even the kind motive 
that got them up could not win the favor of Fortune, 
and so like other greater and less failures they quietly 
slipped away into oblivion. Some entertainments there 
were, too, whose receipts figure in the returns of various 
committees and booths. There is no record of half the 
performances that were given in aid of the Metropolitan 
Fair, but the most successful were under the supervision 
of the Dramatic Committee, and their number and re- 
turns were as follows : — 
Wallaces Theatre $954.25 
Winter Garden 606.50 
Howe’s Circus 22.30 
Olympic Theatre 627.50 
Barnum’s Museum 296.95 
Hippotheatron 136.37 
Billiard Tournament 211.00 
Dramatic Reading (private) 500.00 
Cinderella 2,705.50 
Niblo’s 940.50 216 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
Old Bowery 350.00 
New Bowery 321.00 
Private performances at Mr. Jerome’s Theatre . . 6,365.70 
The sum of these receipts is $14,037.57 
Though it only appears in the Treasurer’s report as 
$13,829.72, and has to suffer a final deduction which 
leaves $13,593.44 as the actual and serviceable contri- 
bution of the Dramatic Committee. But it is not alone 
from the pecuniary point of view that the labors and 
gifts of this committee are pleasing. To any kind-hearted 
lover of amusements what can be more gratifying than 
to see pleasure ministering to duty; — or, to put the 
case again tropically, who loves not to see the Old World 
muses, Melpomene and Thalia, turned Christian, and 
waiting on the footsteps of mild-eyed Charity? Such a 
spectacle has been often granted to us in these latter 
days, and the Sanitary Commission was, during its short 
but wonderful career, many times blessed with the re- 
wards of such good service. There are many New York- 
ers who remember a performance of “ Macbeth ” at the 
Academy of Music, — one of a series of benefits given by 
Miss Charlotte Cushman to the Sanitary Commission. 
There was Miss Cushman and Edwin Booth; and the 
glittering house was packed to the roof with patriotic 
play-goers. How much a thing of memory that even- 
ing is—there is no repeating it. The great actress was 
not only making a noble gift to the cause of her coun- 
try, but was bidding farewell to both stage and native 
land. The scene of her action has passed away; the 
object for which she played has finished its work and 
no longer exists. But though three years have worked 
such a change, they have not destroyed the memory of 
that occasion. It was perhaps the most memorable of 
all the public performances given to the Sanitary Com- 
mission — the place, the combination of two such UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
217 
actors, the circumstances, all help to lift it into pre- 
eminence. Perhaps an old play-goer, here and there, re- 
membered that it was in “ Macbeth ” that Miss Cushman 
won her first success a quarter of a century ago; and 
then he thought over the long line of triumphs “ unto 
this last.” The actors, the spectators, the times sug- 
gested by such a retrospect, could not fail to come into 
curious contrast with the present occasion; but we must 
turn our backs upon the tempting theme to consider one 
equally seductive, which may be found in our arid-look- 
ing list of the returns of the Dramatic Committee. At 
the very end of the list there is set the legend — 
“ Private performances at Mr. Jerome’s Theatre, $6,365.70.” 
And it is of six brilliant evenings that it now becomes 
our pleasant task to write. 
It was a cosy theatre; pretty and well lighted. A 
stage not so large but that its drawing-rooms might 
seem adapted to human conveniences, while an ordi- 
nary conversational tone might be heard from one side 
of its boudoirs to the other. Its actors did not have 
to play at being ladies and gentlemen, and its audience 
were not obliged to be warmed into interest through dis- 
piriting, cold and dreary first acts. Greenroom and par- 
terre were connected by other than artistic ties. Ladies 
and gentlemen of the same society were before and 
behind the curtain. On one side rows of ladies in the 
freshest and most exquisite toilettes; delicate silks and 
laces and tissues, with here and there the diamonds of a 
dowager. “Waterfalls” and “rats” were then compara- 
tively new and strange, and their unaccustomed effects 
went far to stimulate the wit of those occasions, though 
among the black-garbed and white-gloved men there 
were many whose wit wras keen enough without such 
stimulus. Behind the curtain was Fairy-land. Zerlina 
was there, and Pierrotto ; Lady Teazle and the choleric 218 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
uncle who uses East Indian oaths, all curry and chili, 
and blesses the young people at the end. Not that we 
are indicating the plays that were really acted ; but it 
is all the same thing; they were the same people un- 
der different names, it was the same world that we all 
love, and any one of its inhabitants brings before us 
the whole realm. The fact that there was an unusually 
close connection between the two sides of the glit- 
tering boundary line of foot-lights, added interest for 
those who surveyed the double scene. When Phillis 
appeared in her charming role of waiting-maid, with 
jaunty cap and apron, were there not many who looked 
to see whether Damsetas or Menalcas in the audience 
led the claqueurs, and if Amaryllis were watchful of 
the stage or only of Damaetas ? Did Madame La Mar- 
quise bestow her coquetries upon the powdered and gold- 
laced gentlemen around her, or did she intend them to 
reach some heart beyond the foot-lights ? Who can tell 
what were the complications of those six evenings ? 
Ordinarily the dress-circle has its romance, and the stage 
has its own also, and they may chance to be connected 
with each other at rare points, but for the most part they 
are separate. Here, however, they were so mingled that 
none could thoroughly unravel the tangle. So rich was 
the history that it cannot be written. Yet that which 
would have struck the eye of any observer was mem- 
orable. The acting of ladies and gentlemen has about 
it a charm that the every-night stage cannot boast. 
There is less to be assumed when they (the ladies and 
gentlemen) take upon themselves the characters of the 
drama, and in place of the stock conventionalisms they 
give us freshness and nature. Such, at least, was the 
case in these entertainments; the acting was of a kind 
that is rarely seen in public, and, moreover, it was evenly 
excellent. There were no two or three whose preeminence 
dwarfed their surroundings into insignificance. The com- 219 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
bination of Stars for every part, which we have given over 
sighing for in the real theatre, and have relegated to 
the province of dreams, was here made actual for six 
evenings. Everywhere intelligence, everywhere grace, 
everywhere excellence; and, then, such costumes, such 
gems, and brocades; such achievements by Virfolet! 
The ladies seemed determined to show that they could 
utterly eclipse the dressing of star actresses whenever 
they, were so minded. More than all, there was the sing- 
ing. Do not those strains from Linda linger yet ? Does 
any one forget those grand scenas from Ernani ? When 
his music was so sung did not Verdi seem for the time a 
master equal to Mozart ? And what mountains of flow- 
ers there were to testify to the admiration of listeners! 
Surely no prima donna was ever so loaded with floral 
offerings before. Camellias were like buttercups in pro- 
fusion, and, though it was April, roses were as com- 
mon as dandelions in a May meadow. But then every 
thing connected with these entertainments was liberal 
and splendid. Besides the excellence of the parts we 
have named, there was a truly fine orchestra, and even 
to the least details, every thing was perfect. The tick- 
ets of admission were beautifully engraved cards, and 
the programmes could not have been more elegantly 
printed had they come from the Riverside or Caxton 
presses. So what with unexceptionable appointments, 
the pretty and gayly lighted theatre, the brilliant 
audience, the fine music, the fine acting, and the fine 
dresses, what wonder that comment was enthusiastic, and 
was in the correspondence of the day chiefly expressed 
by underscored superlatives and exclamation points ? 
Indeed, the sober judgment of two years later confirms 
the admiration of the time, and asserts that no private 
theatricals ever given in New York were at all compa- 
rable with these in splendor or in enjoyment.1 
1 In order to show the character of these performances we append two of the 
programmes. 220 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
FIRST AMATEUR DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE 
FOR THE BENEFIT OF 
THE UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION, 
AT MR. LEONARD W. JEROME’S PRIVATE THEATRE, 
Wednesday Evening, April 6,1864. 
PROLOGUE, 
Written by Mr. Peter Marie, will be spoken by Mrs. John Rodgers, 
after which will be presented the Comedietta, in one Act, of 
CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES, 
Translated for these performances from “ L’lnvitation a la Yalse ” of 
M. Alexandre Dumas. 
Madame d’ Ivry, Mrs. Charles E. Strong. 
Mathilde, Miss Young. 
Rose, Miss Anna Young. 
De Sor, Mr. William H. J. Graham. 
Maurice, Capt. Charles G. Hutton. 
Peter, Mr. Charles D. Gambrill. 
John, Mr. Constant. 
Piano-Tuner, Mr. Charles Post. 
Clock-Maker, . Mr. William J. Hoppin. 
To be followed by a Grand Scena from Donizetti’s Opera of 
LINDA DI CHAMOUNI, 
Under the direction of Sig’r Abella and Mr. Theodore Thomas, 
who have kindly volunteered their valuable services. 
Linda, Mrs. P. Lorillard Ronalds. 
Pierotto, M’de d’Angri. 
Carlo, . . , , Sig’r Mongiardini. 
Antonio, . Mr. Horace M. Barry. 
In consequence of severe indisposition, Miss Stelling will be unable 
to appear in the character of Pierotto, and M’de d’Angri has, on short 
notice, yery kindly volunteered to take the part. UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
221 
To conclude with the Farce, in one Act, of 
THE TWO BUZZARDS. 
Miss Lucretia Buzzard, Mrs. Charles Blake. 
Sally, Miss Meert. 
Benjamin Buzzard, Major Charles T. Dix. 
John Small, Mr. William P. Talboys. 
Glimmer, ... Mr. William B. Rice. 
Stage Manager, Mr. John Lester Wallace. 
METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
FIFTH AMATEUR DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE, 
FOE THE BENEFIT OF 
THE UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION, 
AT MR. LEONARD W. JEROME’S PRIVATE THEATRE, 
Under the direction of Mr. John Lester Wallace. 
MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 25, 1864, 
Will be presented the 3 act Comedy, of 
THE LADIES’ BATTLE. 
Countess d’Autreval, Mrs. John Rodgers. 
Leonie de la Villegontier, Miss Constant. 
Baron de Montrichard, Mr. Charles D. Gambrill. 
Henri de Flavigneul, Mr. Charles T. Fearing. 
Gustave de Grignon, Mr. A. R. Macdonough. 
Brigadier, Mr. E. Constant. 
Capt. Pell, who was to have played Henri de Flavigneul, having re- 
joined the army, Mr. Charles T. Fearing has kindly consented, at short 
notice, to undertake the part. 
The performance will conclude with two grand scenas from the first and 
fourth acts of Yerdi’s Opera of 
ERNANI, 
Under the direction of Sig’r Abella and Mr. Theodore Thomas, 
who have kindly volunteered their valuable services. 
Elvira, Mrs. P. Lorillard Ronalds. 
Ernani, . Sig’r Mongiardini. 
Carlo, Mr. Horace M. Barry. 
Silva, • Mr. R. L. Cutting. 222 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
As these entertainments are the last gift to the Fair 
that we shall have to record, we will say at once that the 
sum of all gifts and receipts was $1,340,050.37. One mill- 
ion dollars was paid over to the Sanitary Commission 
within a few days after the closing of the Fair, leaving 
about $175,000 for a later gift after paying all expenses. 
A complete view of the pecuniary results of our great 
Bazaar may be found in the Appendix to this volume. 
All goods remaining at the close were either sold at 
auction, or sent as gifts to other fairs at St. Louis and 
Philadelphia, as the chiefs of the departments in which 
they had been determined. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 23. 
And now we write the date of the last day of that brill- 
iant and festal charity whose course we have been trac- 
ing. We have examined the last booth, we have detailed 
the labors of the last committee, we have recounted item 
and incident, transcribed figures and bound the whole 
together in a chain of days until the end is here, and we 
may pause for one last swift glance at all that we have 
gone over, — to try for once to realize the whole, the 
picture and its influence, before drawing the curtain and 
turning to other concerns. 
We have at the outset recognized the fact that the Fair, 
whose story we have been telling, was one in a series of 
similar undertakings. We have not claimed that the devo- 
tion, the energy, the wisdom, the humanity that went to 
building up and adorning this Fair were peculiarly its 
own. We have failed in speaking our mind if we have 
not seemed to regard these happy three weeks as an ex- 
pression of that which was tender and beautiful in the 
spirit of 1864. A flower of our American cliivalrv — 
“ A blood-red blossom of war with a heart of fire,” 
only it was not blood-red with hate, but with love, and UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
223 
the heart of fire was the strong purpose that burned 
steadily in the nation till its great work was done. In 
the matter of these two great and essential things,— 
the love that prompted, the strong purpose that carried 
through, — the story of the New York Fair was that of 
all the rest. So far, then, as we have spoken of energy 
and devotion, we might have been speaking in relation to 
Philadelphia, or Boston, or St. Louis; it is only by acci- 
dents of time, place, and circumstance that we have dis- 
tinguished our charity from its kindred. Happy for New 
York that her noble feeling was shared by all the fair 
sisterhood of cities whose children suffered in army hos- 
pitals ; for sympathy refines devotion, and though it puts 
all who share it upon a level, it lifts all together to a 
height that, unassisted, none could reach. So that if New 
York cannot boast herself above Brooklyn or Philadel- 
phia in respect of strength or purity of motive, she has 
something better to look back upon than the mere glory 
of such excellence; the memory of her pious fervor is 
brightened throughout by the generous courtesy and help- 
ful kindness of her sister cities, and her real glory is 
greater as contributing to that effulgence of charity that 
held a five years’ noonday in these Northern States, than 
it could have been had she only held up her single torch 
amid a general darkness. 
As to those outside and picturesque aspects of the Fair 
by which we have managed to tell our story, we have not 
troubled ourselves to inquire how they compared with the 
similar aspects of other fairs. We have seen an attempt 
to establish an order of precedence in beauty among the 
several exhibitions of the time. We have also been told 
repeatedly that if the receipts of this and that fair were 
not absolutely so great as those at New York, they were 
at least relatively greater when the population of the 
cities represented was taken into consideration. We leave 
such matters to the curious. 224 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
At the same time we must allow, though this is not the 
first time that we have made the admission, that the man- 
agement of the Metropolitan Fair was not so nearly per- 
fect as might be wished. No one, however, is more ready 
to confess this than those who sustained the chief respon- 
sibility among the heads of committees and departments. 
They say without hesitation, We might as easily have made 
two millions as one, if we had known only how to manage 
better. But, in truth, it was only by making mistakes 
that committees learned wisdom, just as generals and the 
nation at large were learning by the same costly method. 
That saying of Coleridge, wherein he compares experi- 
ence to the stern lights of a ship, that light the path that 
has been gone over, forbids us to judge the errors of those 
whose way lacked such illumination. It sometimes hap- 
pens, from this retrospective character, no doubt, that no- 
body profits by a given experience; but in the present 
case we have the comfort of knowing that all the mis- 
takes taught wisdom, not only to the New York Commit- 
tees who did not so much need it since it came too late to 
prompt action, but to the people of Philadelphia, who 
learned what to avoid in their coming Central Fair. 
When we consider this we easily make up our minds that 
it would be as vain to regret as to blame those not fruit- 
less errors, just as it would be foolish to regret the seed 
that perished in the ground, when enough lived to pro- 
duce the harvest that waves in happy luxuriance before 
our eyes. 
It would be strange if mis-steps, and the multitude of 
counsels, did not sometimes breed dissensions, even be- 
tween good and kind people. Happily these were few, 
considering the excellent opportunities that were con- 
stantly afforded for quarrels. The general temper was 
too hearty and kindly to be easily broken. In a charm- 
ing letter that lies before us we are told — UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
225 
“ The ladies for once forgot social cliques, religious differences, politi- 
cal antipathies, and even the more solid insult of prettier bonnets. An 
occasional flash from the artillery of wit, a sort of birthday salute, would 
happen now and then ; but it passed, and the work went on. 
“ One lady refused to bow to another. The party who was cut 
said, mildly, 4 You must forgive me if I forget and bow to you hereafter. 
I assure you it will be only the force of habit.” No. 1 bowed after 
that.” 
Such was the spirit that animated workers and kept 
strife at a distance. Every one was eager and busy, every 
one was generous and kindly. Time was given up, ease 
was sacrificed, and for the beloved object ladies worked 
until strength gave out; and often long after they should 
have taken to their beds, and long after they would have 
yielded had the spirit been a little less resolute. They 
toiled as no maid-of-all-work to an overgrown family ever 
did. Indeed, in the month of March, each day saw some 
lady drop from her place, until it was remarked that the 
Fair had become a monster living upon human flesh. “It 
(the monster) demanded,” said the observer quoted a 
moment ago, “ a lady a day, and a very well-dressed lady 
at that; but as we had a thousand ladies, and there were 
only thirty days in the month, we had him at a disadvan- 
tage ; so one after another fell ill, disappeared, but the 
great work went on.” There were first, meetings for 
organization, meetings for consultation, for appointments, 
and settlements of claims, followed by no end of letter- 
writing, visiting, rummaging, and collecting. Then there 
were meetings over contributions, clashing interests to be 
reconciled, work to be distributed, carpenters, painters, 
and all manner of assistants to be looked after, perhaps 
struggled with, grumblers were to be appeased, the too as- 
piring to be repressed, the meek were not to be forgotten 
but to be duly brought forward, and, above all, the ever- 
recurring puzzle, — whose business is it to attend to this 
present complication ? until the whirl became almost mad- 
dening, and it seemed as if everybody were engulfed in 226 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
a perfect maelstrom of affairs. Then came the opening 
day, and to the ordinary eye all was splendor and success. 
We have, in the course of our narrative, revealed a few 
of the skeletons that were barely concealed behind the 
birch-bark of the Wigwam, and the crimson and white 
draperies of the Music Hall, that lurked among the fresh 
cherubs of the Children’s Department, “ ab ovo usque ad 
mala ” in the Restaurant, and between the carven lids of the 
artist albums. But everywhere there was present an evil 
power that was more dreadful than these skeletons; he 
would not be forgotten, but even at the beginning of the 
Fair he always came before night, and appeared especially 
to those who waited in booths and changed money at 
tables. Later in the course of things he grew bolder and 
came morning and night. He followed stricken ladies to 
their homes, sat by their pillows all night, and dogged 
their steps in the morning when they went anew to their 
duties. He was not to be escaped, not to be resisted, 
not to be yielded to; he wTas just to be borne — and 
his name, for we hate little mysteries — was fatigue. In- 
deed, he seemed to exercise a sort of fascination over 
his victims, for many, very many of them wilfully en- 
couraged familiarity with him. They counted it glory 
to get tired out in the service of the Sanitary Commis- 
sion. Who does not remember the sort of spirit that 
was on so many ladies in 1864 ? Why should they sit 
at ease when young manhood was winning laurel crowns 
on fields empurpled with his own blood ? Were they 
too weak for martyrdom ? Were they grown selfish and 
unworthy to serve at the altar of their country ? Was 
it wonderful that they welcomed fatigue, and, with the 
zeal of saints in other days, thought with suffering to 
express the love that was in them? We think that no 
words can do justice to the pure spirit of American 
women during the Rebellion. When love could yield 
its dearest to the chance of death, it could scarcely be UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
227 
appalled at any lesser sacrifice. It is of spirit such as 
that that we have been speaking; even our few w7ords 
seem like treading with carelesss feet too near to holy 
ground, and we withdraw to themes that our light men- 
tion cannot profane. 
The shadow of fatigue, which looks slightly like ennui, 
fell tenderly upon the young men, frequenters of the 
Fair (and worshipers of the same, they would have 
said with good grace but little wit) in these last days 
of its existence. The Fair was not only popular, but 
fashionable, and the dress-circle of the opera was thinned 
of its clusters of la jeunesse doree, while the absent ones 
might have been found about the Normandy Table radi- 
antly expectant of gauffre cakes, or lounging through 
the ways where the attractions of that far-away time 
were gathered. We said that at last a shadow, if no 
more, of fatigue fell upon these young men; but then 
every thing sits lightly on them, and they wore even 
their look which seemed in the slang of that day to 
say, “ Is n’t this about played out ? ” almost like a grace. 
One observer said that he counted no less than four 
and twrenty of these youth sitting upon a table, the 
prosperity of which had emptied it of its wares, all 
silent, all swinging their dangling feet, and sucking hard 
on the heads of their canes, as if that somehow yielded 
food for their minds. We think it possible that this 
picture is a little overdrawn, and can pick out the feat- 
ures that might bear reduction without harming their 
air of probability, but we leave that to others, and 
doubt not that even as a caricature the portrait will 
prove recognizable, and so bring up a part of the period 
and the scene that will help to perfect the whole. 
It is not strange that here and there the great Fair 
found detractors. The Sanitary Commission itself suf- 
fered from slanderous tongues, and as for the Fair, the 228 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
existence of people who could cheat its officers with 
borrowed season-tickets, shows that even a noble object 
fortified by fashion and every social influence could not 
shame base people out of base dealing, nor, of course, 
out of evil speaking. We can recall now the feeling, 
we will not give it a name, with which we heard a 
woman, member of a Christian church, professedly loyal, 
proud of her piety and good works, insinuate that it was 
possible that some whose names are synonymes for gen- 
tleness and beneficence, had used the Metropolitan 
Fair as treasure-box from which to fill their own purses ! 
There were people who could say such things, but it 
was never worth the while to convince them of wrong. 
They drop too easily from grace, and are best, for the 
peace of society, in oblivion. 
But there was malice that did not content itself with 
evil speaking. One morning near the day of opening, 
the Superintendent of the Receiving Department found 
that a clerk had given a receipt for some shells and 
torpedoes upon the understanding that they were not 
loaded. An examination, however, showed they were 
not so harmless as they had been taken to be: they 
were loaded, and only waited for an occasion to fulfill 
their terrible mission of destruction and death With- 
out a word of explanation, the Superintendent ordered 
the treacherous gifts to be carried out to the North 
River and dropped into the water, and, as nothing is 
known to the contrary, there they are presumed to be 
at this day. Nothing was said about this occurrence at 
the time, for fear of alarming that large class of people 
which is never so scared as when the danger is past, 
and it might never have seen the light of print had it 
not accidentally come to the knowledge of the present 
writer, who could not forbear mentioning an event of so 
much importance among those whose story he has been UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
229 
telling. If he were so minded he might from these 
materials work up a “ sensation ” chapter for his simple 
tale. The darkness of an attempted crime, the mystery 
that still conceals its perpetrators, would form strong 
contrast with the tender-hearted zeal and plain every-day 
prosperity that have been his theme all along. But the 
facts are too few, even if inclination were not wanting, 
to make it worth while to “improve the subject.” It 
is certain that a crime was attempted whose conse- 
quences might have been terrible; but that is as much 
as we know. Who the criminals were we can only guess. 
They may have been only thieves, who hoped to get 
plunder out of the treasures gathered together in the 
Fourteenth Street building. The suspicions of most 
persons will perhaps point another way. We all know 
who were the only people who could hate the Christian 
object of the Fair, and we know that their hateful in- 
genuity afterward found expression in the hotel burn- 
ing plot, in the attempt to introduce malignant disease 
through our ports, and in assassination. When those 
who hated the Fair numbered some notoriously ready 
with every base, cowardly and murderous scheme, is 
it strange that our minds should connect this kindred 
attempt with those already fastened to their authors ? 
But we will charge no man, nor set of men, upon mere 
suspicion of a crime so great. Surely those whom we 
suspect have already enough to answer for. The ghastly 
array of their misdeeds has already secured them a place 
in history, down below the least of all names, pilloried 
forever for the contempt even more than for the indig- 
nation of mankind. 
We have no more to say of troubles, of evil speakers 
or of evil doers; we have, perhaps, said too much of 
them, seeing how small was their importance, but we 
have at last left ourselves free to speak only of the brill- 230 
RECORD OF THE METROPOLITAN FAIR. 
iant success. Our words may well be few on this side 
of our topic, for every page we have written has borne 
such testimony as to make a summing up well-nigh 
useless. We have shown how the whole city was en- 
gaged in the one work; how it gave the people amuse- 
ment during three weeks, and was a channel for their 
love or, if you will, charity for the sick and wounded 
soldier; how it led men to forego their money-getting 
labors, and made women forget ease and pleasure for 
awhile ; how it brought all classes together in friendly 
oblivion of differences, and through knowledge of each 
other taught respect for each other; how villages were 
brought into closer relations with the city, and cities with 
each other by sympathy; and how the same sweet power 
took this occasion to bind the loyal States together by 
one more bond; and how the aid given by gentle peo- 
ple in all civilized lands showed how a noble object is 
strong even as a touch of nature to “ make the world 
kin.” These things, as much as the noble sum raised 
for the Sanitary Commission by their means, were the 
success of the Fair; and so far as they live, either in 
themselves or in their effects and influence, does the 
Metropolitan Fair still live and continue to bless alike 
its aiders, and those who have forgotten it; perhaps, 
even, some of those who in its day were strangers to 
that chivalry of which it was the “bright consummate 
flower.” 
When a day was first set for the opening of the Fair, 
it was intended that the close should come upon the 
ninth of April. But it fell out, through one cause and 
another, that the end came upon the twenty-third of 
April, a day when all the world was doing honor to 
the immortal poet who, three hundred years ago on 
that day, entered the world with none to do him rever- 
ence. If that wise and gentle soul had then been sur- 231 
UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
veying this earth, could he, even among remembrances 
of himself, have found a fairer and more pleasing sight, 
than would have been given him by the happy coincidence 
that on this day was brought to an end our victory of 
peace, earnest as it was of a future time when “ peace to 
earth, good-will to men,” shall be the song of all mortals 
as it was once of angels. APPENDIX. FINANCIAL STATEMENT. 
To the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Fair, in aid of the 
United States Sanitary Commission. 
The Treasurer respectfully Reports, 
That the whole amount received by the Treasury of the Fair up to 
the date of this Report is One Million Three Hundred and Forty 
Thousand and Fifty Dollars and Thirty-seven Cents ($1,340,050.37), 
and the amount paid out for expenses, One Hundred and Sixty-three 
Thousand Three Hundred and Seventy-eight Dollars and Forty-seven 
Cents ($163,378.47), leaving as the net proceeds of the Fair the sum 
of One Million One Hundred and Seventy-six Thousand and Six 
Hundred and Seventy-one Dollars and Ninety Cents ($1,176,671.90). 
The Treasurer begs leave to congratulate the Committee on its 
success in securing for the aid and relief of our National Soldiers an 
amount believed to be larger than has ever been raised by a similiar 
undertaking here or abroad. 
As contributions of money continue to be received, and further 
consignments of goods are expected, and many articles remain still 
unsold, the accounts of the Treasurer cannot yet be closed. 
A final statement will be made hereafter, which will, it is believed, 
show a large addition to the sum already received. 
Of this sum, one million dollars was paid to the Treasurer of the 
United States Sanitary Commission, on the 17th day of May, 1864, by 
order of the Executive Committee. 
Of the balance,* there is loaned to the United States Government 
on ten days’ call, at six per cent., $170,520.00 
On deposit in the Bank of America, 5,718.74 
In Safe, 433.16 
$176,671.90 
The Treasurer desires to express her obligations to John H. Gourlie, 
Esq., Chairman of the Finance Committee, for the energy and ability 
with which that department was superintended by him, and Messrs. 
Hamilton Wills and George Tuthill for their valuable services as her 
assistants. 
An account of the receipts and disbursements in a consolidated 
form is annexed, showing the receipts of the various departments and 
stations. 
* The balance remaining on hand was subsequently paid to the Treasurer of the United 
States Sanitary Commission. 236 
Dr. 
CONSOLIDATED CASH. 
NO. 
COMMITTEE. 
DONATIONS. 
SALES. 
TOTAL. 
Private Contributions . . . 
$39,463 22 
$39,463 22 
60 
Grocers’ Committee . • . . 
44,043 00 
$7,168 43 
51,211 43 
Presbyterian Church . . . 
55 40 
55 40 
20 
Methodist Church .... 
4,242 37 
3,861 04 
8,103 41 
Reformed Dutch Church . . 
16 20 
16 20 
Roman Catholic Church . . 
20 00 
20 00 
Universalist Churches of N. Y. 
City 
7.890 63 
7,890 63 
Jewish Churches 
3,162 18 
3,162 18 
4 & 7 
Episcopal Churches .... 
226 00 
1,622 20 
1,848 20 
6 & 43 
Baptist Churches 
1,432 60 
1,432 60 
27 
Church 2d Avenue and 14th St. 
907 00 
907 00 
28 
Mr. Thompson’s Church . . 
917 60 
917 60 
6 
Mr. Gantz’s Church .... 
1,042 29 
1,012 29 
Sundry Churches .... 
672 97 
672 97 
70 
Book Committee 
2,135 00 
10,289 02 
12,424 02 
Tobacco Committee .... 
25 00 
25 00 
Dramatic Committee . . . 
13,829 7-2 
13,829 72 
63 
Machinery Committee . . . 
10,081 25 
9,537 82 
19,619 07 
26 
Pancy Goods Committee . . 
14,059 72 
2,412 79 
16,472 51 
68 
Druggists’ Committee . . . 
4,440 00 
1,662 27 
6,102 27 
Public Conveyances Committee 
8,280 80 
8,280 80 
54 
Hardware Committee . . . 
16,905 00 
6,443 55 
23,348 55 
50 
Sewing-Machine Committee . 
524 75 
2,778 87 
3,303 62 
33 
Thread and Needle Committee 
5 00 
3,561 60 
3,566 60 
Trades’ and Associations’ Com. 
3,224 48 
3,224 48 
38 
Dry Goods Committee . . . 
130,022 02 
7,600 98 
137,623 00 
Finance Committee . . . 
63,840 00 
63,840 00 
79 
Stoves and Gas Fitting . . . 
10 00 
101 75 
111 75 
67 
Arms and Trophies .... 
1,308 00 
65,792 48 
67,100 48 
Foreign Contributions . . . 
5,255 77 
5,255 77 
64 
Ships and Shipping .... 
19,963 22 
152 50 
20,115 72 
Metropolitan Police .... 
4,034 25 
4,034 25 
Window Glass Committee . . 
100 00 
100 00 
75 
Furniture Committee . . . 
25 00 
8,812 33 
8,837 33 
Private Schools Committee 
1,129 15 
1,129 15 
Hide and Leather Committee 
6,770 00 
6,770 00 
Gas, Coal, and Flag Committee 
12,680 00 
13,513 50 
26,193 50 
78 
Carriage Committee .... 
1,136 10 
2,000 00 
3,136 10 
Public School Committee . 
23,706 69 
23,706 69 
Light Gymnastics, Mrs. Plumb 
745 55 
745 55 
Interest 
1,451 09 
Express Companies .... 
20,000 00 
20,000 00 
54 
Printing and Stationery Com.* 
1,892 00 
5,050 36 
6,942 36 
Out of Town Contributions Com. 
3,081 12 
3,081 12 
62 
Agricultural Committee . . 
110 50 
5,470 12 
5,580 62 
Hartford Committee . . . • 
1,005 00 
1,005 00 
67 
Wines and Liquors Committee 
3,550 00 
14,300 06 
17,850 06 
72 
Millinery Committee . . . 
2,980 00 
1,225 80 
4,205 80 
69 
Architectural Committee . . 
6,777 60 
3,330 97 
10,108 57 
Ticket Department .... 
181,382 10 
181,382 10 
Produce and Corn Exchange 
Committee 
5,750 00 
5,750 00 
Carried forward . . . 
$852,995 78 
* The above does not include the sums received from the sale of the newspaper at the 
various departments of the Fair. Dr. 
CONSOLIDATED CASH 
237 
NO. 
COMMITTEE. 
DONATIONS. 
SALES. 
TOTAL. 
Brought forward . . . 
$852,995 78 
39 
India Rubber Committee . . 
§100 00 
$8,521 43 
8,621 43 
35 
New Jersey Committee . . . 
1,539 80 
36,746 19 
38,285 99 
Insurance 
943 83 
New York Post-Office . . . 
700 00 
700 00 
Public Press 
1,245 04 
1,245 04 
65 
Art Committee 
3,130 18 
80,538 44 
83,668 62 
2 
Hats, Caps, and Fur Committee 
8,932 50 
1,997 85 
10,930 35 
37 
Boots and Shoes Committee . 
4,990 00 
3,148 23 
8,138 23 
3 
China and Glass Committee . 
2,310 00 
3,058 25 
6,368 25 
Exchange and Discounts . . 
25 72 
Dentists' Committee .... 
2,913 50 
2,913 50 
30 & 44 
Clothing Committee .... 
22,955 26 
3,733 08 
26,688 34 
New York Fire Department . 
30,250 00 
30,250 00 
Seventh Regiment N. Y. S. N. G. 
8,583 50 
8,583 50 
74 
Hair Dressers’ Committee . . 
100 00 
433 30 
633 30 
69 
Oils, Soap, and Candles Com. 
3,933 70 
4,702 26 
8,635 96 
Sundry Sales 
344 21 
344 21 
Cotton and Raw Goods Com. 
8,475 00 
8,475 00 
42 
Jewelry Committee .... 
2,594 00 
17,366 56 
19,960 56 
Union Square Department 
1,063 00 
95,722 55 
96,785 55 
61 
Restaurant Department . . 
15,385 36 
2,097 80 
17,483 16 
1 
Turnverein Table 
1,039 50 
. 1,039 50 
8 
Buffalo Table 
500 00 
500 00 
9 
Oswego Table 
1,140 24 
1,140 24 
10 
New Bedford Table .... 
1,000 00 
1,000 00 
11 
7th Precinct Police Table . . 
711 00 
711 00 
12 
Ohio Table 
2,340 20 
2,340 20 
13 
Staten Island Table .... 
3,370 04 
3,370 04 
14 
Dobbs Ferry and Tarrytown Ta- 
ble 
442 00 
442 00 
15 
Hastings Table 
665 00 
665 00 
16 
Norwalk Table 
1,565 00 
1,565 00 
17 
Welsh National Society Table 
5,210 05 
6,210 05 
18 
Westchester Table .... 
2,312 00 
2,312 00 
19 
Harlem Table 
3,584 11 
3,584 11 
21 
Thread and Small Ware Table 
4,918 00 
4,918 00 
22 
English Cloth Table .... 
4,331 64 
4,331 64 
23 
Foreign Goods 
131 65 
131 65 
24 
Perfumery Table 
1,262 00 
1,262 00 
25 
Wax Flowers Table .... 
1,314 69 
1,314 69 
29 
Excelsior Society Table . . 
1,345 00 
1,345 00 
31 
Mr. E. Mathews’s Table . . 
4,500 00 
4,500 00 
32 
Toys 
1,851 45 
1,851 45 
34 
Gents’ Furnishing Goods Table 
3,936 15 
3,926 15 
36 
Saddlery and Harness Table . 
2,755 30 
2,755 30 
41 
Roman Department .... 
7,896 30 
7,896 30 
45 
Jacob’s Well 
640 19 
640 19 
46 
Spirit of the Fair 
7,173 73 
7,173 73 
47 
Surgical and Optical Instruments 
1,624 62 
1,624 62 
48 
Soda Water Table .... 
1,200 85 
1,200 85 
49 
Floral Temple 
7,391 53 
7,391 53 
62 
Indian Department .... 
1,765 00 
1,765 00 
66 
Lingerie Department . . . 
12,186 30 
12,186 30 
71 
Curiosity Shop 
11,237 02 
11,237 02 
73 
Mineral Department .... 
1,174 02 
1,174 02 
Carried forward .... 
$1,334,090 90 238 
Dr. 
CONSOLIDATED CASH. 
NO. 
COMMITTEE. 
DONATIONS. 
SALES. 
TOTAL. 
77 
Brought forward .... 
Photographic Gallery . . . 
Ladies’ Goods 
$456 05 
$1,334,090 90 
456 05 
70j 
2,233 00 
2,233 00 
82 
Auction Sales (Sundry Goods) 
2,700 19 
2,700 19 
83 
Fortune Teller 
80 75 
80 75 
84 
Fmglish Goods 
310 50 
310 50 
87 & 88 
Fancy Goods 
192 81 
102 81 
90 
Copper Mine 
5 20 
5 20 
91 
Dress-Making 
30 17 
30 17 
45 
Lemonade 
32 00 
32 00 
84 
Umbrella Stand 
8 80 
8 80 
Aug. 1st. 
To Balance 
$176,671 90 
$1,340,050 37 CONSOLIDATED CASH. 
Cr. 
239 
By Advertising 
$5,077 23 
Stationery 
507 42 
Printing 
6,177 81 
Postage 
658 00 
Gas and other Lights 
2,829 27 
Donations to other Fairs 
3,736 82 
English Consignment Hosiery and Tea 
6,421 73 
Stoves and Fuel . - 
1,160 72 
Painting 
483 07 
Table Furniture 
8,548 31 
Labor 
2,786 12 
Sundry Departments 
34,090 65 
Rents 
4,060 00 
Furniture 
1,696 23 
Buildings 
48,565 17 
Music 
5,385 00 
Gas Fitting and Plumbing .... 
6,072 89 
Salaries 
2,546 27 
Receiving Department 
919 83 
Foreign Freights ........ 
1,183 35 
Insurance 
4,438 83 
Shipping Charges 
635 29 
Counterfeit Money ....... 
307 35 
Discounts 
138 94 
Delivery of Purchases at Fair . . . 
824 40 
Decorations 
4,236 81 
Subsistence of Police 
3,200 50 
Ticket Department ....... 
2,394 50 
Fire Police 
2,356 37 
United States Sanitary Commission . 
1,939 59 
163,378 47 
United States Sanitary Commission . 
1,000,000 00 
1,163,378 47 
Balance 
176,671 90 
$1,340,050 37 
All which is respectfully submitted, 
ELLEN R. STRONG. 
Dated, August 1st, 1864. OFFICERS. 
LADIES’ ASSOCIATION. 
President, Mrs. Hamilton Fish. 
First Vice-President, .... u David Lane. 
Second Vice-President, .... “ A. V. Stout. 
Treasurer, “ Ellen R. Strong. 
Secretary, “ John Sherwood. 
Assistant Secretary, Miss Catherine Nash. 
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
[OFFICE NO. 2 GREAT JONES STREET.] 
Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts, Mrs. Gurdon Buck, 
“ Francis Lieber, “ Ogden Hoffman, 
“ William II. Van Buren, “ James B. Colgate, 
“ Richard M. Hunt. “ John A. Dix, 
“ Jonathan Sturges, “ Alexander Hamilton, Jr., 
“ Alfred Schermerhorn, “ Thomas F. Meagher, 
“ David Dudley Field, “ Philip Hamilton, 
“ Samuel G. Courtney, “ Frederick Billings, 
“ Daniel Le Roy, “ Morris Ketchum, 
“ Benjamin Nathan, “ August Belmont, 
“ John Jacob Astor, “ Samuel B. Schieffelin, 
“ Henry A. Coit, Miss Katherine Hone, 
Mrs. John Jay. 
GENTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
President, Major-Gen. John A. Dix. 
First Vice-President, Mr. Jonathan Sturges. 
Second Vice-President, .... “ James T. Brady. 
Chairman of Gen. Committee, . “ Wilson G. Hunt. 
Secretary, “ Richard Grant White. 
31 242 
APPENDIX. 
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
[OFFICE NO. 842 BROADWAY.] 
Mr. George Griswold Gray, Chairman. 
“ Richard Grant White, Secretary. 
Mr. Thomas C. Acton, 
“ Lloyd Aspinwall, 
“ William T. Blodgett, 
“ Charles Astor Bristed, 
“ Le Grand B. Cannon, 
Henry Ciiauncey, 
“ Abraham M. Cozzens, 
“ Alfred W. Craven, 
“ Edward Delano, 
“ A. J. Delatour, 
“ Christian E. Detmold, 
“ Daniel Devlin, 
“ William B. Dinsmore, 
“ Henry S. Fearing, 
“ E. D. Garesche, 
IIon. C. Godfrey Gunther, 
Mr. John H. Gourlie, 
Gen. William Hall, 
Mr. Fletcher PIarper, 
“ Joseph C. Heywood, 
“ Piiiletus H. Holt, 
“ Nathaniel l3. IIosack, 
“ William H. Wickham, 
Mr. S. B. Janes, 
“ Leonard W. Jerome, 
“ James L. Kennedy, 
“ John F. Kensett, 
“ Moses Lazarus, 
“ Arthur Leary, 
“ Augustus R. Macdonough, 
“ Peter Marie, 
“ Edward Matthews, 
“ Levi P. Morton, 
“ Uriel A. Murdock, 
“ Alexander Van Renselaer, 
“ Marshall O. Roberts, 
“ James A. Roosevelt, 
“ James F. Ruggles, 
“ William Scharfenberg, 
“ Elliott F. Shepard, 
Superv. William R. Stewart, 
Maj. Alexander M. Stetson, 
Mr. Francis A. Stout, 
“ John II. Swift, 
“ Charles Tracy, 
“ Peter B. Wight. 
Committee on Working and Organization. 
Mr. Christian E. Detmold, Chairman. 
Mr. Marshall 0. Roberts, 
“ William T. Blodgett, 
“ Lloyd Aspinwall, 
“ Levi P. Morton, 
Gen. William Hall, 
Mr. James A. Roosevelt, 
“ William R. Stewart, 
“ George Griswold Gray. 
SPECIAL COMMITTEES. 
Architectural Ornaments — Stone, Marble, and Wood. 
Mr. James Renwick, Chairman. 
Mrs. Henry A. Coit, Mr. T. H. Smith, 
“ James Renwick. “ James Stephens, 
“ A. G. Bogert, APPENDIX. 
243 
Mr. D. Lienau, 
“ Edward I. Woolsey, Jr. 
“ William Gibson, 
“ Alexander Milne, 
“ Robert C. Fisher, 
“ John M. Dodd, 
“ H. Sinclair, 
“ F. H. Gross, 
“ John R. Yoorhis, 
“ William E. Berrien, 
“ E. F. Rogers, 
“ John Sniffin, 
“ John Nicholson, 
Mr. A. M. Ross, 
G. Van Nostrand, 
“ William H. Gedney, 
“ Edward Gridley, 
“ Matthew Kane, 
“ Alfred H. Hoe, 
“ Alfred Little, Newburg, N. Y., 
“ John T. Conover, 
“ G. A. Conover, 
“ J. E. Hoagland, 
“ Henry H. Keeler, 
“ Charles W. Moores, 
“ Charles Whitlock. 
Apothecaries and Perfumers, Paints and Painters, Toys and Small Wares. 
Mr. James L. Kennedy, Chairman. 
Mrs. William H. Van Buren, 
“ Gurdon Buck, 
“ Edward Tatum, 
“ C. T. Bunting, 
“ Sidney Ashmoi'e, 
“ Lyman, 
“ A. B. Mott, 
“ Yanderheyte, 
Mrs. Alfred Seton, 
“ H. K. Bogert, 
“ Ed. Warren, 
“ J. W. Cochrane. 
Mr. J. Tallmadge Van Renselaer, 
“ Charles K. Tuckerman, 
“ William H. Schielfelin, 
Mr. William Hegeman. 
Arrangements and Decorations. 
Mr. George Griswold Gray, Chairman. 
Mrs. R. M. Hunt, 
“ J. J. Astor, 
“ August Belmont, 
“ John Jay, 
Miss Perry. 
Mr. Lloyd Aspinwall, 
“ James Renwick, 
“ Richard M. Hunt, 
“ F. D’Oremieulx, 
“ Alfred W. Craven, 
“ Louis Laing. 
Arms and Trophies. 
INCLUDING ARMS AND SPORTING MATERIAL, FOR SALE. 
Mr. W. T. Blodgett, Chairman. 
Mrs. John Paine, 
“ George B. McClellan, 
“ J. C. Fremont, 
“ A. Baird, 
“ E. L. Yiele, 
Mrs. A. E. Burnside, 
“ C. M. Kirkland, 
Miss Carrie P. Dunn. 
Mr. Steward L. Woodford, 244 
APPENDIX. 
Gen. Charles E. Dodge, 
Col. George Bliss, Jr., 
“ Elliott F. Shepard, 
Mr. John Austin Stevens, Jr., 
“ John A. C. Gray, 
“ Smith Ely, Jr., 
Capt. James R. Gould, 
Mr. William Kemble, 
“ B. W. Griswold, 
“ Dwight Townsend, 
Capt. John Ericsson, 
Col. J. Frederick Pierson, 
Mr. J. Butler Wright, 
Gen. Egbert L. Yiele, 
Mr. P. Lorrillard Ronalds. 
Art. 
INCLUDING PICTURES AND ARTISTS’ MATERIALS, FOR SALE. 
Mr. John F. Kensett, Chairman. 
Mrs. Jonathan Sturges, 
“ William T. Blodgett, 
“ Joseph H. Choate, 
“ Charles Blake, 
“ Lester Wallack, 
“ William H. Osborn, 
“ L. W. Gibbs, 
“ James L. Banks, 
Miss Edith Cook. 
Mr. William T. Blodgett, 
“ A. M. Cozzens, 
“ M. O. Roberts, 
“ William S. Hazeltine, 
“ Joseph H. Choate, 
“ E. Leutze, 
“ W. Whittredge, 
u Daniel Huntington, 
“ Launt Thompson, 
“ M. Knoedler, 
Mr. Richard M. Hunt, 
“ Thomas Hicks, 
“ C. P. Cranch, 
“ Eastman Johnson, 
“ Augustus D. Shepard, 
“ James F. Ruggles, 
“ Lewis M. Rutherfurd, 
“ Matthew B. Brady, 
“ Edward Anthony, 
“ A. Bierstadt. 
Auctioneers. 
Mr. E. H. Ludlow, Chairman. 
Mr. Daniel A. Mathews, 
“ Edwin Schenck, 
“ Daniel H. Burdett, 
Mr. H. Molten, 
“ Henry D. Miner, 
“ J. H. Draper, 
Mr. Welles Nichols. 
Autographs. 
Mrs. John Sherwood, Miss Mary M. Hamilton, 
Mr. Luther Manard Jones. 
Corn Exchange. 
FLOUR, GRAIN, AND PROVISIONS. 
Mrs. H. K. Bogert, 
“ M. M. Caleb, 
Mr. Philetus H. Holt, Chairman. 
Mrs. David Dows. APPENDIX. 
245 
Mr. Alfred Hoyt, Mr. Adon Smith, Jr., 
“ William Paxson, “ William E. Treadwell, 
“ David Dows, •“ George Y. Hecker, 
“ Edward Cromwell, “ S. E. Getty, 
“ E. H. Tompkins, “ Thomas Rigney, 
“ W. D Mangam, “ John S. Williams, 
Mr. I. W. Knapp. 
Contributions from without the City. 
Col. Elliott F. Shepard, Chairman. 
Mr. James W. Beekman, Mr. Marvelle W. Cooper, 
“ Ashbel H. Barney, “ Edward B. Merrill, 
Maj. William L. Skidmore, Supervisor Thomas Little, 
Mr. Frederick S. Winston, Mr. Nathan Chandler. 
IN THE STATE. 
Hon. Millard Fillmore, Buffalo. 
Richard Church, Esq., Angelica. 
Hon. Daniel S. Dickinson, Binghamton. 
Hon. E. W. Leavenworth, Syracuse. 
Hon. John H. Van Atwerp, Albany. 
Hon. Tracy Beadle, Elmira. 
Isaac Butts, Esq., Rochester. 
Ellis H. Roberts, Esq., Utica. 
Henry K. Brown, Esq., Newburg. 
Prof. David H. Wells, Troy. 
IN ADJOINING STATES. 
Hon. Samuel G. Arnold, Providence, R. I. 
Hon. Joseph C. Jackson, Newark, N. J. 
Pelatiah Perit, Esq., New Haven, Conn. 
Francis Way land, Jr., Esq., New Haven, Conn. 
Clement B. Barclay, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa. 
James T. Fields, Esq., Boston, Mass. 
Gen. George F. Davis, Montpelier, Vt. 
Confectioners, Bakers, Soap and Candles. 
Mr. Alexander Van Rensselaer, Chairman. 
SOAP AND CANDLES. 
Mr. John H. Macey, 
“ Charles W. Hull, 
Mr. Henry Lyles, Jr., 
“ John W. Morgan. 
BAE ERS. 
Mrs. James Foster, 
“ R. L. Chitting, 
Mrs. R. M. Hunt, 
“ Dr. Anthon, 246 
APPENDIX. 
Miss A. Cutting, 
“ K. Hone. 
Mr. Andrew Simpson, 
“ E. Bremer, 
“ John White, 
“ Jacob Wall. 
Mr. Robert M. Walduck, 
CONFECTIONERS. 
Mrs. H. Fay, 
“ Gabriel Kent, 
“ George N. Titus, 
“ Edward Dibble, 
“ Nathan Smith, 
“ William H. Parker, 
Mrs. Remsen. 
Mr. IJ. Barmore, 
“ Nathan Clark, 
“ William A. Fritz. 
Cabinet-Makers and Upholsterers. 
Mr. James A. Roosevelt, Chairman. 
Mrs. George M. Miller, 
“ Sidney Webster, 
“ Frederick Sheldon, 
Mrs. Charles Tuckerman, 
Miss Caroline Livingston, 
“ A. Jay. 
Children’s Department of the Metropolitan Fair. 
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
President, Mrs. James B. Colgate. 
Mrs. Thomas Phillips, 
Miss E. C. Jay, 
“ T. McCready, 
Mrs. J. Grafton. 
Mr. George Cottrell, 
“ Edward Colgate, 
“ Denton Smith, 
Gen. C. W. Darling, Treasurer. 
Maj. Alexander Hamilton. 
SUB-COMMITTEES. 
Confectionery. — Mrs. F. Hamlin. 
Refreshments. —• Mrs. John Baker. 
Pablic and Private Schools. — Mrs. Anthon, Miss L. Wadleigh. 
Charitable Institutions. — Miss McCready. 
Toys. — Mrs. De La Montagne, Mrs. Cornell. 
Children's Clothing. — Mrs. W. V. Curtis. 
Madison Avenue Church. — Mrs. Vanderlip, Mrs. Evans. 
Skating Pond. — Mrs. Philips, Mrs. Willetts. 
Candies, Fruit, fyc. — Mrs. Stegg, Mrs. J. Foster, Jr. 
Fancy Articles. — Mrs. Everett, Miss Beadsley. 
Ice Cream. — Miss Evans, Miss Capen. 
Books. — Miss Roberts. 
Soda Fountain. — Miss F. Hoagland. 
Children's Entertainments. — Mrs. Colgate, Mr. Cottrell. APPENDIX. 
247 
Curiosity Shop. 
Mrs. L. W. Gibbs, 
“ Charles King, 
“ Bache McEvers, 
“ Robert Gracie, 
Mrs. Gen. McDowell, 
“ J. Foster, 
“ Macauley, 
“ Egbert L. Yiele. 
Cotton and Haw Materials. 
Mr. Edward Matthews, Chairman. 
Mr. William S. Wilson, 
“ Solon Humphreys, 
“ H. M. Taber, 
Mr. W. H. Guion, 
“ Charles A. Easton, 
“ Gordon Norrie. 
Clothing. 
Mr. Daniel Devlin, Chairman. 
Mr. Elisha Brooks, 
“ William Seligman, 
“ George P. Bradford, 
“ Pliny F. Smith, 
“ T. S. Young, 
“ James WTilde, Jr., 
“ David L. Einstein, 
“ J. S. Lowrey, 
“ David Close, 
Mr. Charles Horton, 
“ Abraham Lent, 
“ Aaron Raymond, 
“ Simon Bernheimer, 
“ Mortimer Brown, 
“ G. H. Witthaus, 
“ A. J. Post, 
“ J. Y. Brokaw, 
“ William H. Yanvaler. 
Children’s Clothing. 
Mrs. W. B. Allen, 
“ Thomas Hitchcock, 
Miss Ellen Tileston, 
Miss Daisy Constant, 
Mrs. Abraham S. Hewitt. 
Custom-House. 
Mr. Arthur Leary, Chairman. 
Drama and Public Amusements. 
Mr. Richard Grant White, Chairman. 
Mrs. John Sherwood, 
“ George T. Strong, 
“ George Bliss, 
“ J. C. Peters, 
“ J. C. Fremont, 
“ Charles E. Strong, 
“ McVickar, 
“ Blake, 
Mrs. R. Tighe. 
Mr. Leonard W. Jerome, 
“ John Lester Wallack, 
“ John Corlies White, 
“ William Graham, 
“ William J. Hoppin. 248 
APPENDIX. 
Dry Goods. 
Mr. Levi P. Morton, Chairman. 
Mrs. John Van Yechten, 
“ C. Goff, 
“ M. E. Hyer, 
“ Edward Clark, 
“ William Bloodgood, 
“ R. Ray, 
“ A. Fitzgerald. 
]Mr. Charles L. Anthony, 
“ James M. Constable, 
“ W. H. Lee, 
“ Charles H. Ludington, 
“ William G. Lambert, 
“ Alexander T. Stewart, 
“ Adrian Iselin, 
“ John M. Davis, 
“ Gustave Kiitter, 
“ Theron R. Butler, 
“ William A. Ilaines, 
“ William A. Budd, 
“ Hewlett Scudder. 
Mr. George Bliss, 
“ E. S. Jaffray, 
“ Henry F. Spaulding, 
“ N. Sullivan, 
“ M. W. Cooper, 
Dress-Making. 
Mrs. Cornelia K. Forsyth, Mrs. Donovan, 
“ A. F. Smith, “ Benjamin Nathan, 
“ Edward Matthews, “ Demorest. 
Express Companies. 
Mr. William B. Dinsmore, Chairman. 
Mr. Alexander Holland, Mr. John Hoey, 
Mr. John A. Pullen. 
Farm and Dairy Products, Agricultural Implements. 
Mr. Nathaniel P. Hosack, Chairman. 
Mr. L. G. Morris, Mr. Robert L. Pell, 
“ Richard Church, “ E. IL Kimball, 
“ Thomas IL Faile, “ R. L. Allen. 
Finance. 
Mr. John H. Gourlie, Chairman. 
Mr. Leonard W. Jerome, 
“ Henry R. Winthrop, 
“ James C. Carter, 
“ A. Goldsborough Jones, 
“ Charles P. Kirkland, 
“ Henry F. Vail, 
“ Henry A. Stone, 
“ Henry A. Oakley, 
“ E. A. Stansbury, 
Mr. Moses Lazarus, 
“ H. A. Johnson, 
“ Sheppard Gandy, 
“ Edmund M. Young, 
“ J. C. Bancroft Davis, 
“ Francis Skiddy, 
“ J. M. Fiske, 
“ Thomas B. Coddington, 
“ O. D. F. Grant, 249 
APPENDIX. 
Mr. Robert B. Roosevelt, Mr. James W. Beekman, 
u Smith Clift, “ James L. Graham, Jr., 
“ E. Judson Hawley, Dr. Timothy M. Cheesman, 
Dr. Alonzo Clark, “ Gurdon Buck, 
Mr. M. K. Jesup. 
Fire Department. 
Mr. William H. Wickham, Chairman. 
Mr. Lawrence Taylor, 
“ James L. Miller, 
Hon. C. Godfrey Gunther, 
“ Sylvanus J. Macy, 
Mr. Alonzo Slote, 
“ John R. Platt, 
“ Charles McDougal, 
“ Francis H. Macy, 
“ George W. Lane, 
Mr. A. J. Delatour, 
“ Josiah Hedden, 
“ William M. Randall, 
“ John Grade, 
“ John Decker, 
“ Robert McGinness, 
“ E. D. Garesche, 
“ George T. Hope, 
“ James T. Wenman, 
Mr. Z. H. Jarman. 
Fire Insurance. 
Mr. E. D. Garesche, Chairman. 
Flags, Canvas and Cordage, Wood and Coal. 
Mr. S. B. Janes, Chairman. 
Mr. George A. Hoyt, 
“ Oliver Bryan, 
Mr. Frederick C. Oakley, 
“ Daniel B. Whitlock. 
Florists. 
Mr. August Belmont, Chairman. 
Mrs. George F. Betts, 
Miss Abby Stevens, 
Mrs. R. Howland, 
“ Robert Colby, 
“ Buchanan, 
“ Albert Gallatin, Jr., 
Mrs. Carl Schurz, 
“ Thorndike. 
Mr. George Griswold Gray, 
“ Lydig Suydam, 
“ Edward Potter, 
Mr. Isaac Buchanan. 
Flowers (Wax and Feather,) Fancy Baskets, &c. 
Mrs. Courtney. 
Furniture, Upholstery, Carpets, and Looking-Glasses. 
Mr. James A. Roosevelt, Chairman. 
Mrs. R. M. Hunt, 
Miss L. Barnewall, 250 
APPENDIX. 
Miss C. Murray, 
Mrs. F. Garretson, 
“ J. L. Sutherland, 
“ George D. Phelps, 
Miss Willett. 
Mr. L. Marcotte, 
u Thomas C. M. Paton, 
“ Henry Iden, 
“ Robert M. Taylor, 
“ Warren Ward, 
“ John W. Southack, 
“ Peter Bonner, 
“ Cyrus Gill, 
“ William P. Stymus, 
“ George E. L. Hyatt, 
“ Joseph A. Deap. 
Mr. Christian Schwartzwaelder, 
“ B. W. Merriam, 
“ Charles Whittemore, 
“ John Sloane, 
“ J. C. Brauensdorf, 
Furs, Hats and Gaps. 
Mr. John H. Swift, Chairman. 
Mrs. R. H. Corbett, 
“ W. L. Shoyer, 
“ King. 
Mr. Samuel Shethar, 
“ John T. Waring, 
“ F. Frederick Gunther, 
“ Louis J. Phillips, 
“ C. A. Lighthipe, 
Mr. Martin Bates, 
Mr. William Prentice. 
Gentlemen’s Furnishing Goods. 
Mrs. William H. McVickar, Mrs. Kearney Warren. 
Grc cers and Sugar Refiners. 
Mr. Lloyd Aspinwall, Chairman. 
Mrs. William H. Aspinwall, 
“ Lloyd Aspinwall. 
Mr. Francis Skiddy, 
“ R. B. Minturn, Jr., 
“ Edward L. Hedden, 
“ J. Bowers Lee, 
“ Janies Otis, 
“ D. Edwin Hawley, 
“ Charles F. Park. 
Mr. John E. Wylie, 
“ Janies Scott, 
“ J. L. McKeever, 
u Benjamin B. Sherman, 
Mrs. Clymer, 
“ J. C. Peters, 
Hair-Dressers. 
Miss Fanny Seaton, 
“ Susan Walton. 
Mrs. Robert II. Corbett, 
“ George King, 
Hoop-Skirt Makers. 
Mrs. W. L. Shoyer, 
“ W. A. Morris. 
India Rubber. 
Mr. Francis A. Stout, Chairman. 
Mrs. C. R. Degan, 
“ William 0. Hoffman, 
Mrs. T. C. T. Buckley, 
Miss H. Robbins. APPENDIX. 
Indian Department. 
Mr. Albert Bierstadt. 
251 
Jewelry and Fancy Goods. 
Mr. Peter Marie, Chairman. 
Mrs. W. Parker, 
“ George H. Lemist, 
“ B. Shepard, 
“ A. Schermerhorn, 
« C. L. Tiffany, 
“ F. H. Saltus, 
u Pascal Hughes, 
“ D. J. Magnin, 
“ Henry Ball, 
Miss Rhinelander. 
“ Colvill, 
“ J. H. Burton, 
Miss R. H. Corbett, 
“ Rosenfeld. 
Mr. William B. Hoffman, 
“ James W. Gerard, Jr., 
“ William B. Rice, 
u Edward R. Robinson, 
“ George McClure, 
“ Henry Ball, 
“ Marcellus Hartly, 
“ William Dowd, 
“ Henry A. Robbins. 
Knickerbocker Kitchen. 
Mrs. J. J. Roosevelt, 
u Ronalds, 
Miss Benson, 
“ Schermerhorn. 
Leather, Boots and Shoes, Canes and Umbrellas. 
Mr. Francis A. Stout, Chairman. 
Mrs. Samuel Bridgham, 
u H. Fales, 
“ Charles E. Strong, 
“ Jacob Little, 
Miss Strong. 
Mr. Clarence A. Seward, 
“ Stephen Hyatt, 
“ James M. Burt, 
“ Temple Prime, 
“ Smith Ely, Jr., 
“ William A. Hall, 
“ Nathaniel Fisher, 
u Oliver Hoyt, 
“ J. E. Bulkley, 
Mr. Charles H. Marshall, Jr., 
“ T. Bailey Myers, 
“ Lewis G. Morris, 
Mr. E. M. Young. 
Lingeries and Trimmings. 
Mrs. William T. Blodgett, Mrs. Henry S. Fearing, 
“ L. P. Morton, “ C. K. Forsyth, 
“ J. Patterson, “ C. F. Chickering. 
Mr. Alfred W. Craven, Chairman. 
Machinery. 
Mr. W. W. Evans, 
Mr. Theodore Weston, 252 
APPENDIX. 
Mr. W. E. Worthen, 
“ C. II. Delamater, 
“ T. D. Stetson, 
“ T. F. Secor, 
u James Murphy, 
“ A. S. Cameron, 
“ Horatio Allen, 
“ Joseph Crampton, 
“ James B. Floyd, 
“ J. L. Jackson, 
“ Joseph Belknap, 
“ John B. Root, 
Mr. Henry J. Davison, 
“ George W. Quintard, 
“ William E. Everett, 
“ John Roach, 
“ Charles Roonie, 
“ William D. Andrews, 
“ William Sewell, 
“ Erastus W. Smith, 
“ Joseph G. Harrison, 
P. II.-Jackson, 
“ William Roardman, 
‘‘ John Thompson, 
Mr. H. B. Renwick. 
Metals, Hardware, and House-Furnishing Articles. 
Mr. U. A. Murdock, Chairman. 
Mrs. Judge Mitchell, 
“ R. H. Corbett, 
“ Edward Oothout, 
“ J. C. Sproull, 
Miss Field. 
Mr. Lucius Tuckerman, 
“ Cornelius A. Berrian, 
“ J. W. Quincy, 
“ A. R. Walsh, 
“ Charles Bliven, 
“ Benjamin Tomes, 
“ David S. Egleston, 
“ Thomas Otis Le Roy, 
“ John M. Bruce, Jr., 
“ J. J. Adams, 
“ Thomas Clark, 
“ E. Ketcham, 
“ Alfred A. Valentine, 
“ S. C. Herring, 
Marshal LefFerts, 
“ J. B. Cornell, 
“ C. H. Delamater. 
“ James W. Dominick, 
“ James A. Hayden, 
“ Peter Hayden, 
“ William B. Hatch, 
“ James McKenna. 
Mr. Charles Vandevoort, 
“ George A. Crocker, 
“ George C. Wetmore, 
“ Pickering Clark, 
‘‘ T. B. Coddington, 
“ John T. White, 
“ John Peck, 
“ Charles W. Russell, 
“ John E. Byrne, 
“ Harris Colt, 
“ Isaac D. Russell, 
« B. B. Yale, 
“ James Pattee, 
“ George W. Quintard, 
“ William Boardman, 
“ Robert Hoe, 
Music. 
INCLUDING INSTRUMENTS AND MUSIC, FOlt SALE. 
Mr. William Scharfenberg, Chairman. 
Mrs. H. W. Hills, 
C, F. Chickering, 
Mrs. George T. Strong, 
“ F. Luis, APPENDIX. 
253 
Mrs. S. B. Ruggles, 
“ L. P. Morton, 
“ Panon, 
“ Boilleau, 
“ De Ferrusac, 
Miss Almira Smith, 
“ Charlotte Wilson, 
“ Ward, 
Mr. F. Rietzel, 
“ F. Luis, 
“ R. S. Willis, 
t; W. Graham, 
“ Pietro Centemeri, 
“ C. F. Chickering, 
“ Philip Mayer, 
“ C. Bergmann, 
“ Joseph Mosenthal, 
“ William Steinway, 
“ W. A. Pond, 
“ F. W. Rackeman, 
“ Richard Hoffman, 
“ Joseph Burke, 
“ H. B. Dodworth, 
“ Claudio Grafulla, 
Mr. Theodore Eisfeld. 
“ B. Beer, 
“ G. F. Bristow, 
“ H. Schlesinger, 
“ R. Grant White, 
“ M. Grashof, 
“ W. Mason, 
Mr. Ogden Doremus, M. D. 
Markets and Provision Stores. 
Mrs. John Paine. 
Millinery. 
Mrs. M. O. Roberts, 
“ J. R. Dickinson, 
“ S. T. Gordon, 
“ E. C. Johnson, 
“ William A. Morris, 
Mrs. Charles Ferrero, 
“ R. H. Corbett, 
“ William Scharfenberg, 
“ R. S. Willis, 
“ Benham. 
1ST ewspaper. 
Mr. A. R. Macdonough, Chairman. 
Mrs. Charles Butler, 
“ Edward Cooper. 
Mr. C. A. Bristed, 
“ Charles K. Tuckerman, 
“ Henry D. Sedgwick, 
“ C. P. Dewey, 
“ J. W. Gerard, Jr., 
“ George William Curtis. 
Mr. Frederick Sheldon, 
“ W. P. Talboys, 
“ W. J. Hoppin, 
Optical, Mathematical, and Surgical Instruments, Carriages, Harness, 
Mr. Christian E. Detmold, Chairman. 
Mr. Daniel Pike, 
Dr. Willard Parker, 
Mr. John R. Lawrence, 
“ Charles B. Wood, 
“ James Green, 
Mr. David L. Suydam, 
Dr. W. Detmold, 
Mr. Henry Brewster, 
“ Wood Gibson, 
“ John C. Parker. 254 
APPENDIX. 
Police. 
Mr. Thomas C. Acton, Chairman. 
Mr. John A. Kennedy, 
Mr. Daniel Carpenter. 
Plumbing, Gas-Fitting, Stoves, and Heaters. 
Mr. Edward Delano, Chairman. 
Mr. J. G. Grafton, 
Mr. Ernest Tuckerman, 
Mr. S. Philbin. 
Printing, Stationery, and Playing Cards. 
Mr. James F. Ruggles, Chairman. 
PRINTIN G. 
Mr. John F. Trow, 
“ George F. Nesbitt, 
“ Peter C. Baker, 
Mr. Coridon A. Alvord, 
“ Edward 0. Jenkins, 
“ William C. Martin, 
Mr. Peter S. Hoe. 
PAPER AND STATIONERY. 
Mr. Isaac Ames, 
“ Alexander T. Clayton, 
“ Andrew Dougherty, 
“ Willard L. Felt, 
“ John Foley, 
“ Joseph N. Gimbrede, 
Mr. John H. Hall, 
“ James R. Hodgskin, 
“ Charles 0. Jones, 
“ George H. Jones, 
“ John Priestley, 
“ Samuel Raynor. 
Public Charities. 
Mrs. James B. Colgate, 
“ Frederick Billings, 
Mrs. N. E. Russell, 
“ John Baker. 
Porcelain and Glass. 
Mr. A. M. Cozzens, Chairman. 
Mrs. T. F. Meagher, 
“ De Trobriand, 
“ De Bermingham, 
“ R. Woodworth, 
“ H. Allen, 
“ Cleayton Newbold, 
Miss Waddington, 
Mrs. Fisher, 
Miss Mary Westerlo, 
Mrs. Donnelly, 
“ Roosevelt, 
“ Hitchcock. 
Mr. Benton H. Martin. 
Private Schools. 
Mrs. George Robbins, 
Miss Haines. 
Mrs. Dr. Anthon, 255 
APPENDIX. 
Publishers and Booksellers. 
Mrs. Dr. Lieber, 
“ Ogden Hoffman, 
“ Morris K. Jessup, 
Miss M. Robinson. 
Mr. Fletcher Harper, Chairman. 
Mr. George P. Putnam, 
“ George W. Carleton, 
“ Sinclair Tousey, 
“ Andrew C. Armstrong, 
“ Richard Grant White, 
“ George William Curtis, 
Mr. A. D. F. Randolph, 
Mr. Sidney Howard Gay. 
Public Schools. 
Mr. Richard Grant White, Chairman. 
Mrs. Dr. Anthon, 
“ George YandenhofF, 
“ Charles Easton, 
“ George S. Robbins, 
“ Jonathan Miller, 
“ J. M. Newton, 
“ Hazen, 
Mrs. Wier Roosevelt. 
Miss Fellows. 
Mr. Thomas Hunter, 
“ James M. McLean, 
George F. Bristow, 
“ Sidney Howard Gay, 
Mr. Thomas Boese. 
Public Conveyances and Transportation. 
Mr. Le Grand B. Cannon, Chairman. 
Mr. J. H. Myers, 
“ J. C. Oatman, 
“ M. B. Spaulding, 
Mr. A. H. Ward, 
“ John H. More, 
“ Samuel Sloan. 
Receiving Committee. 
Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, Jr., 
“ Alfred Schermerhorn, 
“ Joseph Delafield, 
“ Colden, 
“ John Body, 
Miss Susan Benson, 
“ L. Barnewall, 
“ C. Murray, 
“ Wilkes, 
“ Renwick, 
Miss K. Hone. 
Restaurant. 
Major Alexander McCollough Stetson, Chairman. 
Mrs. M. O. Roberts, 
“ John Paine, 
“ H. K. Corning, 
“ Andrew Wesson, 
“ William H. Webb, 
Mrs. De La Montagnie, 
“ Benjamin K. Phelps, 
“ C. B. Hackley, 
“ C. J. Goggill, 
“ M. E. Carr, 256 
APPENDIX. 
Mrs. J. A. Wright, 
“ Charles Lamson, 
“ Lorenzo Draper, 
“ C. T. Raynolds, 
Mrs. Henry Smythe, 
“ J. R. Dickinson. 
Mr. James Geddes Day, 
Mr. A. G. Agnew. 
Retail Grocers. 
Mr. J. C. Heywood, Chairman. 
Mrs. De La Montagnie, 
“ Cornell, 
“ E. J. Warren, 
“ D. B. Eaton, 
“ William Curtis, 
“ T. Glover, 
“ S. Weir Roosevelt, 
Miss E. A. Kendall, 
Mr. H. Maunsell SchiefFelin, 
“ David WagstafF, 
“ William 0. HofFman, 
“ Mordaunt Bodine, 
“ II. V. Thurber, 
“ J. T. Pupke, 
“ George P. Ockerhausen. 
Saddlers. 
Mr. F. F. Thompson. 
Ships and Shipbuilding. 
Mr. E. E. Morgan, 
“ Randolph M. Cooley, 
Mr. John A. McGaw, 
“ George W. Blunt. 
Mrs. Gen. Fremont, 
“ Shaw, 
Special Literary Contributions. 
Mrs. Egbert L. Viele, 
“ Alexander T. Clayton. 
Sewing-Machines. 
Mrs. Gabriel Kent. 
Trades and Associations. 
Mr. Charles Tracy, Chairman. 
Mr. Emlen T. Littell, 
“ James Geddes Day, 
Mr. Charles F. Winthrop, 
“ Edward Schenck. 
Tobacconists. 
Mme. De Trobriand. 
Thread and Needles. 
Mrs. H. Fearing, 
“ William Butler, 
“ Robert B. Minturn, Jr., 
Miss Cary, 
“ S. Delano, 
“ L. Barnewall, 
Mrs. D. D. Lord. APPENDIX. 
257 
Visiting Committee. 
Mrs. Gurdon Buck, 
“ George Bliss, Jr., 
“ S. G. Courtney, 
“ Pascal Hughes, 
“ H. K. Bogert, 
Mrs. Balestier, 
“ James Foster, 
“ M. M. Caleb, 
“ Dr. Ilenschel, 
“ Kolilsaat, 
Miss Harriet Robbins. 
Wines, Liquors, Ale, and Tobacco, Fruits and Preserved Provisions. 
Mr. Henry Chatjncey, Chairman. 
Mr. Abraham Bininger, 
“ Stephen H. Provost, 
“ C. H. Lilienthal, 
“ Thomas McMullen, 
Mr. John F. Purdy, 
“ William L. Chamberlain, 
“ P. W. Engs, 
“ Isaac B. Wellington, 
Mr. M. P. Read. 
Wholesale Millinery Goods. 
Mrs. J. A. Swett, 
“ William Walker, 
“ William Paton, 
“ J. M. Fuller. 
Mrs. A. F. Sterling, 
“ P. V. Duflon, 
“ Daniel Brooks, 
“ T. E. Baldwin. 
Some errors may have crept into the foregoing list of committees, but 
it is as perfect as can now be made. — [Eds.] INDEX. 
PAGE 
Album of Sketches 128 
Amateur Dramatic Performances,... 217 
Americans in England, Gifts of, .... 177 
Amount paid Sanitary Commission,. 235 
Applications from Contributors, 5 
Architects’ Labors, 12 
Architectural Ornaments, 91 
Arms and Trophies’ Department... 35 
Army Hymn, 31 
Army and Navy Swords, 45 
Art Criticism, 99 
Art Gallery, 97 
Art Gallery, Effects on Art, 101 
Art Gallery, Receipts of, 103 
Aspinwall, Mr., Gallery of, 103 
Auctions, 172 
Autographs, 79 
Autographs of Berlin Professors,... 175 
Battle Relics 40 
Bellows, Dr., Suggestions of, 2 
Belmont, Mr., Gallery of, 103 
Bierstadt, Mr., Letter to, 147 
Bierstadt’s Rocky Mountains, 98 
Binghamton, 161 
Boat Builders, 110 
Books Published for the Fair, 88 
Book of Bubbles 89 
Boot and Shoe Stall, 113 
Bronze of Mene, 90 
Buffalo Table, 110, 153 
Bureau of Military Statistics, N. Y. 40,41 
Carriage Department, 166 
Cattle Department, 149,167 
Children’s Department, 56, 57 
Children’s Department, Officers of,. 246 
Chinese Robes, 76 
PAGE 
Choate, Joseph H., Speech of, 32 
Church, Pictures by 98 
Cinderella, 170 
Closing of Fair, 150, 230 
Coal, Gifts of, 177 
Cockloft, 121 
Committees, 242 
Contributions, Reports of, 155 
Curiosity Shop, 73,106 
Curiosity Shop, Receipts of, 79 
Cushman, Miss, acts with Booth,... 216 
Cushman, Miss, Gift to School of 
Design, 144 
Decorations of Buildings, 29 
Directors of the Fair, 227 
Dix, General, Speech of. 31 
Dollar Bill, A valuable, 47 
Dramatic Committee, 215 
Drugs and Perfumes, 62 
Dry Goods Stall, 115 
Eagle of Hair, 158 
Enthusiasm of Ladies, 6 
Executive Board, 3 
Exhibition, First Day of, 34 
Fair Building, 12 
Fair Buildings, Fourteenth Street,.. 11 
Fair Building, 14th Street, Descrip- 
tion of, 18 
Fair Building, 14th Street, Plan of,.. 18 
Fair Building, Union Square, 12 
Fair Building, Union Square, Plan of, 21 
Fancy Goods 157 
Fatigue produced by the Fair,.. 225,226 
Fifty-Cent Day, 71 
Financial Statement, 235 260 
INDEX. 
PAGE 
Fire Department, 140 
Flag of 30th N. Y. Volunteers, .... 35 
Flags captured in Naval Battles, 37 
Floral Temple, 163 
Flowers, Contributions of, 165 
Foreign Interest in the Fair, 8 
Fort Pillow, Massacre of, 162 
Franklin, Sir John, Relics of, 77 
Freight, Payment of, 178 
Gentlemen’s Preliminary Meeting,.. 3 
Ghosts at Union Square 46 
Gold, Piece of, 161 
Grant, Majority for in Sword Vote,. 209 
Great Jones Street, No 2, 11 
Groceries, 62 
Hair-Dressing Department, 169 
Hairy Eagle, 158 
Hardware, 53 
Harlem Table, 154 
Hartford Booth, 179 
Head-Quarters of Committee 10 
Historical Museum, Need of, 41 
Hoboken, 123 
Holmes’s Army Hymn, 31 
Home for the Friendless, 215 
Horse Sale, 149 
Horse-Shoe Machine, 78, 151 
House Furnishing Goods, 53 
Hugo, Victor, Letter of, 78 
India Rubber Stall, 116 
Indian Department, 49 
Indian Department, Returns of, .... 52 
Indian Department, Trouble in.,.... 201 
Indians, Dances of, 52 
Indians, Music of, 182 
International Department, 173 
International Department, Receipts 
of, 180 
Jacob’s Well, 53 
Jerome’s, Mr., Theatre, 217 
Jewelry and Silver-Avare, 114 
Jokes on Raffling, 129 
Judas Maccabaeus, 96 
Kirkland, Mrs., Death of, 93 
PAGE 
Knickerbocker Kitchen, 183 
Ladies, First Meeting of, 2 
Lafayette, Wreath of, 75 
Letter from a Rhode Island Soldier,. 139 
Library, 88 
Library, Receipts of, 91 
Liederkranz Society’s Concerts,.. 49, 57 
Lingerie, 63 
Machinery, m 
Maizena Department, 67 
Man Traps, 95 
Manhattan Gas Co., 60 
Marsh, Geo. P., Letter of, 80 
Mary, Queen of Scots, Portrait of,. 77 
McClellan’s Letter to Halleck, 149 
Military Parade at Opening, 23 
Millinery Room, 88 
Miscellaneous Gifts, 214 
Morris, Governeur, 67 
New Bedford, 152 
New Jersey Department, 121 
Nightingale, Florence, Gifts of, 78 
Normandy Table, 67 
Officers of the Fair, 241 
Oils, Soap, and Candles, 62 
Old Hats, 74 
Opening Day, 17, 23 
Opening Postponed, 3 
Opening of Union Square Depart- 
ment, 66 
Optical Instruments, 108 
Orange, 123 
Oxen, 167 
Parade at Opening, 26 
Park Barracks Associations, 179 
Paterson, 124 
Peasant Woman of Zurich, 60 
Philharmonic Society’s Concert, 33 
Picture Gallery, 97 
Police, Contributions of, 156 
Post-Office Clerks, Contributions of, 97 
Private Schools, Gifts of, 214 
Procession at Opening, 26 
Proclamation of Mayor Gunther,... 22 INDEX. 
261 
PAGE 
Programmes of Amateur Dramatic 
Performances, 220 
Protest of Sanitary Commission, ... 127 
Public School Children, 162 
Public Schools, Gifts of, 212 
Punch, 6 
Raffles, 6 
Raffling, Discussion of, 126 
Raffling, Jokes on, 129 
Raffling, Letters on, 134, 135 
Raffleletto, 129 
Rebel Flags, 43 
Rebel Boat, 43 
Receipts of various Stands, 159 
Receipts of the Fair, First Day, .... 48 
Receiving Depot, 5 
Regulations, 5 
Relics of War of 1812, 37 
Restaurant, 63 
Restaurant, Bill of Fare, 65 
Restaurant, Proceeds of, 69 
Roman Department, 142 
Rough Hints, 2 
Rowan, Majority for in Sword Vote, 211 
Ruggles, Samuel B., Speech of, 56 
Russian Contributions, 176 
Saddlery and Harness, 115 
Sanitary Commission, Protest on 
Raffling, 127 
Season Tickets, Troubles with,... 51, 58 
Season Tickets, Cheating in, 109 
PAGE 
Second Artillery, Battery M., 42 
Sewing Machines, 107 
Ship Builders, 110 
Site of Fair 6 
Soda Fountain, 108 
Solferino, Memento of, 44 
“ Spirit of the Fair,” 46,104, 106 
Stationery and Printing, 107 
Stuyvesant, Gov., Plate of, 75 
Suggestions of Dr. Bellows, 2 
Surgical Instruments, 108 
Swiss Booth, 174 
Sword Contest, 87, 96,109, 119,137, 149, 
160, 181,208 
Sword Vote, 55, 60, 72 
Tableaux, 87 
Tapestry, 91 
Tattoo of Drum Corps, 55 
Tenth Ward Public Schools, 108 
Theatricals, 150, 172 
Third N. Y. Infantry, 42 
Thothmes III., 76 
Tickets, Sales of, 59 
Torpedoes sent to the Fair, 228 
Ulster County Booth, 179 
Union Square Building, Plan of,.... 21 
Union Square Department, Sales of, 207 
Washington, Tea-service of, 74 
Wigwam, 49 
Wines, Liquors, and Tobacco, 62